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An Icon turns 60. - Sunanda Vashisht Sunanda Vashisht was born in the beautiful valley of Kashmir, India when Kashmir was known for its unparalleled natural beauty and not as a cauldron of fear and terror. She did most of her schooling in Delhi and dabbled with several professions before moving to U.S last year. she is currently pursuing higher studies here. she likes to introduce herself as an explorer because she wants to spend all her time in this world exploring unknown. Writing for her is a cathartic experience. She can't remember when she began writing first but she does know that writing has always helped her to be at peace with herself and with the world around her.

An interesting thing united all Indians last week. No it wasn’t cricket match between India and Pakistan but the frenzy was no less than that. The Badshah of silver screen, Amitabh Bachhan turned 60 on October 11 and friends, critics and fans alike celebrated his birthday with great enthusiasm. The master of understatement and somewhat of a recluse, Amitabh probably wasn’t very comfortable with the mass hysteria but nothing could stop the media or his fans.

I have always wondered what makes Big B tick. There have been greater actors before him like the king of histrionics, Dilip Kumar, showman of the century, Raj Kapoor, debonair Dev Anand and romantic Rajesh Khanna. Rajesh Khanna was Hrithik Roshan of 70’s who had women writing blood soaked letters to him and later we saw the rise of Khans and of course Hrithik. But nothing matches the public adulation and love, junta has for Mr. Bachhan. Of course he is the actor par excellence and has number of path breaking films to his credit yet I think it is not that alone that makes Amitabh special.

I think it has a lot to do with the dignity with which Amitabh has lived his life. It is not that Amitabh has lived a flawless life. He has some terrible mistakes to his credit (joining politics was one of them), he has been a focal point of some great scandals of our times(Bofors ) and he has seen some major debacles ( like Ms. World contest and ABCL) yet he is the biggest icons of our times. I think the biggest reason for that is the courage and dignity with which he has faced every setback and the way he has come out stronger after ever debacle.

It also has to do with Amitabh’s sincerity and devotion to his work and to whatever he has chosen to do. Directors who have worked with Amitabh swear by his professionalism and the fact that he is a complete Director’s actor. Yet even at the height of his super stardom, Amitabh never even once took credit for any of his achievements. Everyone knows that no one else would have been able to carry the character of Angry Young Man with so much elan. However, Amitabh always gives credit to Salim-Javed, the writers of Sholay, zanjeer, Deewar and Trishul. He never ranks himself as a good actor and has always said that his is merely a fortunate actor. This is what puts Amitabh in a different league. He has never been a victim of his own success.

Amitabh’s struggle to gain entry in the film world is now legendary. Everyone knows of his string of flops and how he persevered by daring to be different. He was not our conventional good-looking hero, nor did he have any Godfather in the industry. He redefined the image of a Hero and soon the anti hero of Deewar and the loser of Muqaddar ka Sikandar became the real hero of the public. He hosted Kaun Banega Crorepati on the Television against all advice and conventional wisdom. Everyone was worried that it would diminish his stature but today KBC has already become a legend of Television History. As far as Amitabh’s image is concerned it was only enlarged.

Amitabh has silenced all his critics by coming out clean in all the scandals. Today at sixty, he is on top of the world. He has special roles written out only for him in the Industry. He has given fresh lease of life to all the 50 plus actors who were reduced to miniscule roles before him. He shares screen space with all the current heart throbs and yet outshines all of them. Even today his name is enough to draw audience to the cinema halls who come just to see him.

At sixty, Amitabh Bachhan is a role model for our generation and rightly so. His life is exemplary because he has dared to be different and yet uphold all the traditions that he has been raised with.

Till we connect again...

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