REVIEW: Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap

HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN

There's a post-climactic moment of truth in Puri Jagannadh's Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap where the real Amitabh Bachchan steps out of his persona and the film he laboriously shoulders to tell his estranged screen wife (Hema Malini) as a parting shot, that she may or may not see him again. "Boodha ho gaya hoon," he says with a sad smile. It's a poignant moment, one that actually brings a lump to your throat—to see your childhood superhero age into a pathetic old man parodying himself, because there's little else he can do.

It doesn't justify this hopeless film, but it puts his desperation in perspective. There is no other way to explain why a man of Bachchan's stature and talent would deny his own mortality so blatantly and mask the ravages of time with floral shirts, flashy sunglasses (he changes them in ever scene) and a bravado borrowed from memory. You can't imagine this man as the invincible, righteous messiah he once was. But he won't quit trying.

Recycling elements from old hits—dialogues like "Hum jahan khade hote hain, line wahin se shuru ho jaati hai" and a remix version of songs like "Khaike paan Benaraswala" and "Pag ghungroo baandh" he plods on. Framed in hagiographic low angle shots that can scarcely mask his flabby midriff, he pretends to demolish the bad guys with the same old enthusiasm, even when the conviction is conspicuously absent. Sonu Sood, who plays his son, with his leaner, fitter physique mocks at the old man's bravado by his very presence—which, given Sood's limited screen appeal, says it all. 

There's a reason why Dilip Kumar remains a stalwart in popular imagination even today. In a career spanning over five decades, he acted in just over 60 films and never over-reached himself. He kept his enigma alive by retaining his elusive and exclusive quality—never endorsing products, rarely giving interviews and choosing his roles wisely.

A lesson none of his successors seem to have learnt.

Comments

[Zafar]

I would say this with the risk of getting a lot of crazy feedback - Several stars today do stuff and justify it as the need for the masses, or their financial situations etc. etc.
Amitabh has in the recent times given us enough talk of what he once was and this film gives the impression that he is just trying to live off past glory. Its about time he stops telling us that he is a star and just accepts himself as he is today. He has nothing more to prove and if he is doing stuff - movies, ads, television... whatever... he should look to maintain some dignity like the entertainment folk of the past.