Flashback
Mrityudaata is Amitabh Bachchan's eighty-fourth film in 28 years. His first K. A. Abbas' Saat Hindustani, released in 1969, was a disaster. So were his next 10 films. The only exception being Anand, where he played a character role opposite the then reigning superstar Rajesh Khanna.
Ironically, Bachchan's first hit was his thirteenth film, Zanjeer, released in 1973, where he played an upright police officer ranged against the establishment. Sold for about seven lakhs, the film went on to gross about 80 lakhs per major territory.
Zanjeer not only changed Bachchan's fortunes but transformed the face of the Hindi film hero. In fact, it revolutionised the pattern of film-making in Mumbai, perhaps India. For the next two decades, the "tall, gawky" actor who was once considered "ill-suited" to play the hero (and therefore turned into a villain in Parwaana) ruled the roost -- as a `one man industry' as India Today described him in the late '70s.
Though prakash mehra's chart-busting Zanjeer, which celebrated a golden jubilee run, established Bachchan as an "acceptable" hero, it was Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Namak Haram that gave his career the real thrust. His portrayal of a rebel with strong overtones of anger and violence, found instant empathy with Indian audiences. Though Rajesh Khanna had given one of his best performances in the film, underplaying the character of the poor, conscientious friend with admirable finesse, it was Bachchan who got the hero's ovation. It was the triumph of the `underdog' over the formidable `king'.
After Namak Haram there was no stopping the lanky, sharp-featured actor with intense brooding eyes. The angry young man, who brooded through reels of injustice before exploding in spasms of anger and violence in the climax, became the prototype of the hero of the '70s, '80s and even the '90s.
Bachchan's `golden phase' spread over 13 years from Zanjeer (1973) to Aakhree Raasta (1986), which was his last film before he forayed into politics. In that phase he acted in 61 films, of which only three (Faraar, Alaap and Imaan Dharam) could be called real duds! Even though films like Zameer, The Great Gambler, Mahaan, Do Aur Do Paanch, Nastik and Inquilaab were considered flops on the basis of their initial performance at the box-office, they were all said to have recovered their investments and even raked in a fair `overflow' in the long run, each of them having grossed around 60-80 lakhs per major territory. (In the ultimate analysis, a film is a `flop' or a `hit' based on what it rakes in in the first 18 months of its run.) They were considered flops only from Bachchan's standards.
Of the nine films released in the highly controversial post-political phase of his career, which is, perhaps, the most uninspiring though eventful phase -- Shahenshah, Ganga Jamuna Saraswati, Toofan, Jaadugar, Main Aazad Hoon, Agneepath, Aaj Ka Arjun, Hum, Khuda Gawah and Insaniyat -- four films failed to break even. They were: Jaadugar, Main Aazad Hoon, Agneepath and Insaniyat (in the last named film, he only made a special appearance). Though initially Shahenshah, Ganga Jamuna Saraswati and Toofan were declared flops, they are said to have grossed more than 1.25 crore per major territory. And Agneepath, which didn't break even, is said to have raked in 80 lakhs per territory, which is more than what a `superhit' would gross in those days. That's what makes Bachchan's record almost invincible.
Even films of his early lean phase, like Bombay to Goa (1972), Saudagar (1973) and Bandhe Haath (1973) have made money in re-runs.
http://www.screenindia.com/old/april25/cover4.htm
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