Influence to the Indian populace Essay Example for Free

Influence to the Indian populace Essay His influence to the Indian populace was so great that when he met an accident while filming the movie, Coolie, the whole nation prayed for his recovery. There was also a great number of Indians who donated blood for the actor. During the taping for the movie, Bachchan wanted a scene to be realistic so he suggested how the punch should be undertaken unfortunately, the acting got so intense that he ended up in pain. For several days, the doctors cannot find the source of Bachchan’s hurt, until one day, a doctor was able to detect a dark spot on his intestine. The dark spot was his undigested when the punch in his abdomen was made. After seventy-two hours of pain, the undigested food could have turned into poison (Mishra 142-143). His intestine was also ruptured as a result of his fall on the steel table after the punch administered by the stuntman (Chopra n. pag. ) The doctors opted for an immediate operation, however, while he was in the operating table, he lost signs of life. He was declared clinically dead until his wife, Jaya shouted that he saw him move his toe. After this remarkable statement of his wife, the doctors were able to revive him (Mishra 142-143). Throughout the period that he was in the hospital, his supporters speculated that the punch that he received was real and intentional—that it was meant to hurt him. However, no proof was established to back up the claim. After the recovery, Bachchan continued filming the movie to where he left off. He also thanked those who offered prayers for his recovery and the support that the entire nation devoted to him. To date, he is the only movie actor who received such sympathy. People from all walks of life showed all the support they can give and it was as if life in India stopped for Bachchan. Life only returned to its normal shape when it was declared that he is already safe (Mishra 142-143) Aside from acting, Bachchan also tried his luck in politics after he was swayed by his friend Rajiv Gandhi, whose mother was assassinated and won by sympathy vote. Bachchan was elected to a Parliamentary seat, however, this prestigious position did not prove beneficial to him as his name was included to a political controversy. Bachchan, his brother and Rajiv were accused with bribery. It was rumored that the Boffors company bribed Indian politicians to ensure that the government will buy tanks and other military equipment from them (Mishra 144). This hullabaloo seriously injured the name that Bachchan was able to established through time so he decided to quit politics two years after he first explored it. After his flop in the field of politics, Bachchan returned to his first love—film making. Bachchan is well loved by the Indians and his acting widely accepted, however, these love and acceptance were not enough to keep his star shining after the political controversy he faced. Mishra, however, points out that his breakdown in politics is not the direct cause of his collapse as a star. Just like the period when he started his sensational career as an actor, the people then were looking for variety, for something new to watch, the Indians also felt this way at some point when Bachchan was the king of the charts. The people were worn-out with the constant revenge and anger theme in his movies and were looking for something new—for a new approach in movies. This was the time when the need to revive Romanticism was felt. The revival of romance in the films brought back the idea of a character and once again motivation replaced generic predictability, something which Bachchan turned his back on (Mishra 138). For Bombay cinema to survive, the romantic twist had to return. And so, as Bachchan’s star waned, romance returned (Mishra 138). After his political stint and cinema flops, Bachchan shifted his attention to a new venture. He created a multi-faceted commercial enterprise known as the Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited or ABCL. The company delved in production and distribution of films and other ventures that involved the movie industry. For sometime, the company enjoyed success in producing movies and even catered the Miss World pageant in India in 1996. However, in its latter years, it faced so many debts that it reached bankruptcy (Indiaoye). His failure both in the political and business worlds, prompted him to go back to where he established his name—the entertainment industry. At 55, he filmed his comeback movie, Mrityutada. It was not as successful as his previous movies but it was enough to sustain him in the entertainment field. Two years after his comeback film, he was named in a BBC poll as the Superstar of the Millennium. This title placed him in equal footing with Sir Lawrence Olivier, Charlie Chaplin and Marlon Brando. Aside from this, he is also the first Asian actor to be included in Madame Tassaud’s wax museum (hindi lyrix n. pag. ). According to Mishra, Bachchan’s success in his career is not only because of his talent in acting but also because of his skill in building his image outside the theater houses. The author suggests three stages in the life of Bachchan that moulded his image as an actor. First is his relationship with his leading ladies, particularly Rekha. Rekha, the daughter of the Hindi actor Ganeshan, is a tall and good looking woman who exhibited real acting talent. She was one of the few actors then who brought â€Å"real sense of character to the films†. She was suspected by journalists to have established a romantic relation with Bachchan and this suspected relationship was â€Å"extensively documented in the fanzines†. Mishra suggests that this added to the growth of the â€Å"quietly sanctioned counternarrative† by the actor himself. However, Bachchan imposed censorship when journalists began to pester him (Mishra 140). The affair of Rekha and Bachchan was better revealed in the movie Silsila (Continuity, 1981). In this movie the actors showed what they could not reveal in real life—depicting the love triangle that exists between Jaya, the wife; Bachchan, the husband; and Rekha, the mistress (Mishra 141).