AB to Z of the Big B

Exclusive extract from a new book on Amitabh Bachchan* which presents his body of work through a lexicon of correlations.

A

Abandon/ KHUD- DAAR

Amitabh makes many sacrifices in his life to offer his younger brother Vinod Mehra a good life and education but when Vinod finds a rich wife, he abandons his elder brother to go and stay with his father in law in their luxurious mansion


Abashed/SAUDAGAR

Amitabh wants to marry Padma Khanna but fails to raise the customary mehr money demanded by her father. The Only way he can raise that money is to save on labor and therefore marries Nutan. In the end, both the women reject him and Amitabh feels ashamed of himself.


Abduct/SHAKTI

As a little boy, Amitabh is kidnapped by his father's enemies and though he somehow manages to escape, the episode becomes a turning point in the father son relationship.


Abject/SOORYAVANSHAM

Amitabh plays a double role of both father and son in the movie. The father has unresolved issues with his son and ill treates him. The son endures a wretched existence without pride because he worships his father.


Abjure/ZANJEER

Amitabh plays a double role of both father and son in the movie. The father has unresolved issues with his son and ill treats him. The son endures a wretched existence without pride because he worships his father.


Abjure/ZANJEER

Amitabh is an angry police inspector who is unable to fight the system and temporarily abjures his belif until his beloved and friend advises him to release his repressed rage and get even with his parent's killers.


Aboard/TOOFAN

The Magician Amitabh is on the train trailed by the villains and his twin brother save him and seeks revenge with their fathers enemy.


Abode/The Last Lear

Amitabh is a retired actor who lives in the solitary confinement and is never visited by anybody at home


Abolition/DEEWAAR

The dock workers pay a hafta to the local goons. One day, Amitabh declares that he will put an end to the custom followed so far.

B

Babble/ NAMAKHALAAL

Ranjeet wants Amitabh out of his sight but Amitabh is not willing and irritates him by reciting a nonstop cricket commentary which makes no sense.


Baby/AAKHREE RAASTA

Amitabh visits Anupam Kher and hands over his baby to him.. After the demise of his wife Jaya Prada, he is not in a condition to look after the little one and entrusts the responsibility of educating and bringing up his son to his friend .


Bachelor/ AKAYLA

Yonger brother Aditya Pancholi tries in vain to get older brother Amitabh married but Amitabh is nursing a broken heart and has decided to remain single.


Back/SOORYAVANSHAM

Older Amitabh has a secret place where he meets his grandson every evening and entertains him by crawling on the floor to play a horse and carry the little one on his back


Backbite/SANJOG

Arun Irani feels her husband Amitabh is facing pressure at work and backbites about his new boss Mala Sinha.


Backdrop/PAHELI

Thirty- Four years after Reshma Aur Shera, Amitabh starred in a film which had the backdrop of Rajasthan and wore a similar costume but played an older man.


Backfire/SATTE PE SATTA

Amitabh is attracted to a nurse and showers her with watermelon and flowers but his strategy backfiress as Hema Malini is not impressed and rebuffs him.


Backstairs/FARAAR

Amitabh is a criminal on the run who takes refuge with a family. When the police come to know of his hiding and come after him, he escapes via backstairs of the house.

For more refer amitabh LEXICON *

Courtesy: The Man


* This is not a regular sort of book. It is a dictionary of scenes from his movies. when you check a word in the dictionary, there are several meanings given there with different usages of noun, verb, adverb, etc. Take the world's bottle, for instance, what comes to mind ? A scene from Sharabi, perhapes, or some other scene where he is playing a drunk. Or take the word taxi -you think of Khuddar and then a scene from that movie. This is like a name association game like pictionary or scrabble. You are meant to have fun with it and add your own scenes and recollections of scenes from his movies through association with a particular world.


I was lunching with friends one day and suddenly we found our selves talking in Amitabh dialogues. For example when we went to serve ourselves talking in Amitabh dialogues . For example when we went to serve ourselves food, it was jahan hum khadey hote hain, line wahin se shuro hoti hai. We had so much fun doing this and the dialogues just went on endlessly. I realized that for an entire generation that grew up on Amitabh.

Bachan's movies, all this would be familiar and interesting. -- Bhawana Somaaya on what is different in her third book on Amitabh Bachchan