A very big reason behind the ‘Mahanayak’ status that Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan is given today is his transition between two centuries. Bachchan saheb made his debut in 1969. That is, he did more than 30 years of work in the last century. On this side, now 25 years of the new century have passed and Amitabh Bachchan is still equally powerful on the screen.
However, between two centuries, this transition of ‘Mahanayak’ was not so easy. The 90s round was a very difficult time for Amitabh. On the one hand, he was upset with his company going into losses, on the other hand he was trapped in a big struggle on the screen for his identity. And in this era with their identity-chrysis, the ‘Lal Badshah’ can be placed on top of the most wavering films that came out.
‘Dhulamul’ was because ‘Lal Badshah’ was a film on one side for the people who were young with Amitabh. Because it was not a digestible thing to see his age Amitabh, romancing with his children’s age actresses.
On the other hand, those who liked this film still remember its dialogue. While it was one of Amitabh’s big flop films, he also brought the biggest fees of that era. With the changing century, Amitabh Bachchan was again struggling to save identity on the big screen, while his fellow artists were getting away from the big screen. And in such times, ‘Lal Badshah’ brought a lot of ‘last’ moments.
Amitabh’s last film with his onscreen mother
Nirupa Roy, who plays Amitabh Bachchan’s mother in the 1975 ‘Wall’, cannot forget a true Bollywood lover. From this film, this pair of onscreen mother-son went on such that in more than 10 films, Nirupa played the role of Amitabh’s mother. It includes iconic films like ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Mard’ and ‘Mukaddar Ka Sikander’. 1999 was the last year when Nirupa played Amitabh’s onscreen mother and the film was ‘Lal Badshah’.
Amrish Puri and Amitabh Bachchan face to face for the last time
If Amitabh Bachchan was the biggest hero of his era, then Amrish Puri is the biggest villain of his era. Both of them being face to face meant that the screen would be on fire! In 1980, ‘Dostana’ was the first film in which Amrish Puri, who became villain, faced action hero Amitabh. After this, the pair of Hero Villain appeared in about 10 films. And ‘Lal Badshah’ was the last film in which both of them were face to face.
However, after this, Amitabh and Amrish also worked together in ‘Mohabbatein’, ‘Dev’ and ‘Lakshya’. But in these films, he was not face to face as a hero-wileen. Reports say that at a location of the shoot of ‘Lal Badshah’, Amitabh and Amrish remembered that they had also shot together for Sunil Dutt’s ‘Reshma and Shera’ about 25 years ago.
One of the last films of Amitabh as a leading hero
At the end of the 90s, Amitabh’s crisis was that he should play the character of a traditional hero who did romance-action or now start choosing the character according to his age? Because as a hero, he was now seen with such actresses who were born after more than two decades. In ‘Lal Badshah’, Amitabh was seen with Shilpa Shetty and Manisha Koirala, who was more than 30 years younger than him. It was strange for many people sitting in the audience. 57 -year -old Amitabh from above was no longer able to relate with the traditional role of film hero.
In 1998, Amitabh Bachchan was in the role of ‘Bade Mian Chhoti Mian’ and ‘Major Saheb’ in the role of his fellow hero in the role of his fellow hero. His role in ‘Koharam’, which came in 1999, was similar. But before his film with Nana Patekar, ‘Lal Badshah’ was released on 5 March, which was actually stuck for a year. And the manner in which Amitabh appeared in this film was like a forced attempt to look young on the screen.
He had also made one such effort in ‘Aaj Ka Arjun’ and even those who love him were not very happy. Director of both these films K.K. C. Bokadia was, who said in an interview, ‘Both my films earned fiercely. Since Bachchan Sahab played Bihari character in ‘Lal Badshah’, the film was a super hit in Bihar. We were thinking of making some more such films.
However, Amitabh agreed with the public’s opinion. He himself said in a later interview, ‘I took a deep breath and did an active self-search. I did not sign a new film. I went to the bungalow of Yash Chopra ji (well-known filmmaker) from my house and I told him honestly- I need work. And thus I got ‘love’.
‘Lal Badshah’ was very good in the areas where Bhojpuri speaking UP-Bihar was the audience because he was liking Amitabh’s Awadhi-Bhojpuri mix style. But the rest of the places people were not able to ignore Amitabh’s age. On one hand, the film was flopping in many areas, on the other hand Amitabh got the most expensive fees of that era for the film. Which some reports tell 2 crores and some 4 crores. But 2 crore fees were also not of any actor in that era and this fee helped Amitabh a lot in the era when he was going through a bad financial phase.
He himself had intended to change his onscreen image and started on TV with ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and ‘Mohabbatein’ in films. And the film that can be called a burning film of this big change, ‘Lal Badshah’, who has now been 26 years old.