Still going strong at 61

But life goes on for Amitbah Bachchan, the evergreen star of Indian films, who celebrated his 61st birthday at his plush residence in Bombay's Juhu locality on October 11 with two more dreams of his blossoming into reality.

To realise the dreams, the veteran actor, along with his family, made it a point to rush back from Morocco, where he had been attending a festival of films in his tribute, to Bombay on time.

Dream number one is the launch of shooting of Ranveer starring for the first time the Big-B, as the senior Bachchan is known in film circles, and his son Abhishek in a feature film.

The other dream is the re-launch of the company Amitbah Bachchan Corporation Limited, a 'sick' firm floated in 1995 which had pushed the actor to the brink of bankruptcy after suffering heavy losses.

What is special about his 61st birthday? Well, Amitabh views it as a second innings. "In life, as in cricket, there is always a second innings because there comes at a time when every man must shrug off the heavy cloak of yesterday and don the wings of tomorrow," reads the invitation card sent by the actor for his B-day bash.

No Hindi film actor has hung on in an industry, known for its fickle nature when it comes to treating the stars, for such a long time as Amitabh has and with as much aplomb as ever.

At an age when other actors run after roles, it is the other way round for Amitabh who is now acting in more than ten films. Time has not withered him and so the Big-B is also playing the role of protagonists instead of supporting actors so typical of most actors of his age group.

Just look at the way Amitabh has acted in a role in the just-released film Baghban with ever "dream-girl" Hema Malini.

As producers and directors have made a bee-line for Amitabh, so has the advertisement world. He is endorsing all sorts of productspen, paint, soft drink, health care products, private financial and insurance companies and noble causes. In short, he has remained as popular a film star as a brand ambassador.

But Amitabh's entry into the tinsel world has not been all that smooth. Son of renowned Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Amitabh's lanky physical frame went against him in a screen test. His debut film Saat Hindustani bombed at the box office.

But he went on and earned for himself the credit of the celluloid image of an angry young man fighting an unjust social and political system.

It would, however, be unfair to see the actor restrictively for he has meandered through other different rolespangs of an illegitimate child in Lawaris alcoholic son in Sharabi, orphaned destitute running out of luck in Muqaddar Ka Siknadar, a man torn between love for his wife and another woman in Silsila, coal miner and trade union leader in Kalaa Paththar. The list goes on.

Amitabh came very close to death when he sustained serious burn injuries during the shooting of Coolie in Bangalore years back. Many had written off his return to films but the actor had, as it were, risen like Phoenix.

Unlike in films Amitabh's stint in politics has been very brief. As a close friend of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, he was elected a member of Parliament on a Congress ticket. But politics, as the actor was to admit later, was not his cup of tea.

Unlike in cinema, Amitabh has not been lucky in business venture. The ABCL he had set up for corporate funding of films ran into trouble, became sick and pushed him to near bankruptcy. In fact, to help tide over the crisis, he has pursued more vigorously appearance in advertisement films and Kaun Banega Crorepati.

Today, as Amitabh turns 61, he seems to have no time to look back. Content with his wife Jaya, son Abishek, daughter Shewta and grandchildren, the senior Bachchan can only look ahead. He must play the second innings with flourish and we can only wish him many more innings.