Two decades ago, newbies from one of the famous Bollywood clans, one belonging to the fourth generation of the Kapoors and the other belonging to the second generation of the Bachchans marked their arrival with Refugee. Though the film cannot be claimed a money spinner, the credibility of its debutants, Kareena Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan, didn’t go unnoticed. It was rather clear that they had a charm of their own and weren’t mere flukes, riding on privilege. The careers of the two actors have had various peaks and nosedives over the years. Abhishek despite his potential has been graceful in accepting that his graph hasn’t gone places, while there is Kareena, on top of her game and much like her mother-in-law Sharmila Tagore, hasn’t let marriage dent her prospects at all.
While both actors tried their hand at a variety of genres, what turned out to be Kareena’s distinct advantage didn’t exactly work in Abhishek Bachchan’s favour. The burden of being an Amitabh Bachchan son was a heavy cross to bear for a youngster whose distinct on-screen presence hasn’t got its due yet. Success eluded him for years, but he kept at it and his story has been clearly about persistence more than anything else. His initial years had many duds from a Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost to a Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon and Om Jai Jagdish, but he didn’t lose hope.
Though his charm was evident in Kucch Na Kaho alongside Aishwarya Rai, whom he would go onto marry a few years later, it took a Mani Ratnam for him to hit the sweet spot with Yuva as the rugged Lallan Singh. He got the tapori body language so right that one wondered where was this intense performer in him trapped all along? He was a picture of composure in Revathi’s Phir Milenge and ;ooked in great form in a brief appearance in Hum Tum. Abhishek truly found himself as an actor with YRF outings like Dhoom, Bunty aur Babli and later Ramgopal Varma’s Sarkar. It was Bluffmaster where Abhishek truly had the swagger, a film that capitalised on his terrific timing to great effect, something that outings like Happy New Year and Bol Bachchan did many years later.
His superb performance as a man-child in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna surprisingly went ignored in comparison to its flamboyant leads Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji. Like before, Mani Ratnam gave his solo lead career an unbelievable fillip with Guru, a story loosely based on Dhirubai Ambani’s life. spanning an entire life of an enterprising businessman, Guru was a true testimony to the mad energy that Abhishek housed and how Mani Ratnam channelised it masterfully, like no other film of his has ever done. Films as diverse as chalk and cheese like Paa, Delhi 6, Dostana and Raavan spoke of his range, but there was a huge string of flops and poor script choices that pegged him back.
Harsh are the ways of the industry and Abhishek wasn’t termed the crowd puller. Multistarrers became his forte, it was evident he was a great team player and he tasted reasonable success with the Dhoom franchise, Housefull 3, Happy New Year and Bol Bachchan. The 2010s haven’t been the kindest to Abhishek, but it’s rather appreciable that he has taken his highs and lows with a pinch of salt.
One of the most pleasant surprises from Abhishek in the recent years was however Manmarziyan. The sensitive and sensible love triangle, coming from the unlikeliest of names to have helmed an outing in this genre, Anurag Kashyap, was a timely update to the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam-template. It saw an actor mature so gracefully on the screen and his restraint anchored and provided a sound emotional foundation to the beautifully narrated story. Commercial success aside, it was a gratifying sight to see a filmmaker tap a sensitive side to Abhishek after a long time. The actor may be grateful to his genes, but the industry would have probably realised his worth more hadn’t he been a Bachchan. Klapboardpost.com sincerely hopes his digital innings with likes of The Big Bull and Breathe 2 proves fruitful and springs a much deserving turnaround.
