Amitabh Bachchan

Reflections on a Star Image

The book is a set of philosophical essays on Amitabh Bachchan, a star like no other in Bollywood. Packed into the persona of Amitabh Bachchan is a star, a person, an expression of his writers, directors, cinematographers, music directors, choreographers and most importantly, the viewer. There are spaces where Amitabh Bachchan, as a person, spreads over to his screen persona and creates his stardom with many episodes and experiences from his life lived in flesh and blood. The book discusses Amitabh against images and appeals of other popular stars like Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and Rajesh Khanna and even Shah Rukh Khan. The book also discusses many of his films which were a remake of popular films of earlier days, as well as many of Amitabh's films which were remade later with the present day stars. The book finds that the star is an individual, the self-image of the viewer and essential in a modernizing society in which the individual is rooted in the institution of family and marriage and must operate within the structures of his class, caste, religion and even the city in which he lives. In his desire to take charge of his life, overcome the barriers that stand in the way of a fuller realization of his essence as an individual. Cinema can be classified around the star and the principles of classification pertain to the existential questions of the star in his embeddedness into the world and also a desire to transcend those attachments into a purer state of being.