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Amitabh Bachchan: Don't think my life is a success, it's 'somehow managing to exist story'

WION Web Team
New DelhiUpdated: Jun 03, 2020, 07:38 AM IST
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Photograph:(Twitter)

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His Bollywood story is nothing short of brilliant biopic material -- from facing early rejections to making a mark as a promising actor to attaining superstardom in Bollywood.

Amitabh Bachchan is tagged as Bollywood`s Shahenshah but he doesn`t think he has a success story. The iconic star says he would describe his journey in showbiz as a "somehow managing to exist story" -- something he is still trying to do.

Speaking in an interview with IANS, Amitabh said, "My `success story` is wrongly expressed. It is not a success story, it is a `somehow managing to exist story`, and a still trying story."

Amitabh has his first release lined up during the COVID-19 time with Ayushmann Khurrana in 'Gulabo Sitabo'. On working with him, Amitabh said, "It has been an experience of having worked with a very accomplished, competent and an immensely talented artiste!"

"Firstly, every actor, artiste, creative talent, has the prerogative to make his or her own choices on the kind of work they wish to professionally get involved in -- bringing Ayushmann`s choices as being similar to mine is incorrect. I cannot say about Ayushmann, but my choices have been the entire responsibility and dependence on the makers that I have had the privilege to work with. They chose me, not I them. You have to ask AK why he chose what he chose to do and with whom."

Big B started his journey in showbiz as one of the protagonists in KA Abbas` 'Saat Hindustani' (1969), and then notably went on to feature in Hrishikesh Mukherjee`s 'Anand' (1971) starring Rajesh Khanna, at that time Bollywood`s unquestioned superstar. His tryst with greatness really started with Prakash Mehra`s 'Zanjeer' in 1973, the film that memorably established his image as Hindi cinema`s Angry Young Man and also paved the way for his superstardom.

Then came hit films like 'Deewar', 'Don' and 'Sholay'. Subsequently his intense, larger-than-life image gave way to more realistic avatars in recent years ('Black', 'Paa', 'Piku' and 'Badla').

He calls the younger generation of Bollywood an "impeccable faultless faculty" and "learning device".

"The younger breed of actors are the most superior breed -- sorry, actually I don`t like the word `breed` -- I get visions of a horse stable. The younger generation or the present generation of artistes are an impeccable faultless faculty. They are a learning device or, to be more present time in my lingo, they are a 5-star Learning App," said the 77-year-old veteran.

At the moment, he is looking forward to the release of "Gulabo Sitabo". The Shoojit Sircar directorial, which was scheduled to get a theatrical release, is headed to a streaming platform as cinema halls remain shut amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.