To Be or Not To Be: Amitabh Bachchan

In the world’s most prolific film industry, actors occupy a pre-eminent position. Ever since the birth of cinema more than a century ago, the proficiency of performances in variegated roles by actors have presided over the imagination of millions of movie aficionados. The almost indeterminate volume of a mass audience has increased immeasurably in recent years, the new millennium signalling a film viewership that stretches beyond the circumscribed limits accustomed to Indian cinema. Today the market encompasses virtually every continent where cinema is part of the everyday consciousness. While a popular Indian film is wedded to certain conventions—ranging from musical interludes and a running length of nearly three hours to a pronounced accent on entertainment and the attainment of poetic justice—Amitabh Bachchan has had to fit into the mould and simultaneously accomplish the near-impossible task of converting the fantasticated dramaturgy into an experience that strikes contact with and touches the lives of the audience of widely disparate tastes, attitudes and temperaments. To Be or Not To Be looks at the life and the craft—which are inevitably inseparable—of Amitabh Bachchan who has been at the forefront of Indian cinema for well over three decades and a roster of nearly 100 films. Several epithets have been bestowed upon him. The media and the mass audience anointed him with the title of a Superstar, while a BBC poll established him as the star of the millennium, the public vote placing him ahead of every other charismatic and thespian icon of the globe, past or present. The spectacle of an actor’s journey through the troughs and peaks of time and trends is a thousand times richer than the most beguiling inventions of our imagination. Bachchan’s life and career reaffirm that point. A lavishly illustrated, comprehensive study of the actor’s trajectory, subtextually this volume reflects the course that film culture has taken from the 1970s right to this day. In addition to a critical analysis and an in-depth interview, the endeavour is underscored with personalised, heartfelt accounts written by the actor’s immediate family, providing the reader with a rare glimpse into a world that has been beset with its myriad joys and anxieties—perhaps more acutely than any other household which has been in the public glare relentlessly. Important features of the book include the actor photographed in various moods and candid moments. For the cineaste the filmography, with brief descriptions and credits, provides a ready Bachchan-reckoner. The text as well as film stills and several family keepsake memories traced back to well-preserved albums, add enormously to the authenticity and reference value of this entertainment-packed book.