Completing 16 years in the industry is not a short period of time if you ask us. Being featured in over 50 films is another decent score. Yet, it’s unbelievable that Abhishek Bachchan is still not considered in the same league as that of his contemporaries.
What is more perplexing is the fact that Abhishek is Bollywood royalty. Being the son of acting legend and megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan did help him get into the business, after which he was touted as the next big thing in Bollywood. But in no time, things went south.
So what went wrong with him? Was it because of some really bad career choices or did he not have what was required to become the next superstar of Bollywood? Well, here’s dissecting, point by point, what really happened that could have possibly sunk a smooth sailing ship. Take a look.
Great expectations
Let’s face it. Being the son of a legend did not work in his favour. Not only the audience or the critics, but even film industry’s biggies couldn’t help but compare him to one of Indian cinema’s greatest actors of all time: his father Amitabh Bachchan. He’s not a bad actor; rather, he’s showcased his utter brilliance in a number of films such as Yuva, Guru, Bunty Aur Babli among others. But then, it seems Abhishek was bound to be caged by “great expectations” that would hover around him for years and years.
Bad film choices
Abhishek began his career with JP Dutta’s Refugee, also starring Kareena Kapoor, which was a good start, considering how newcomers sometimes have to struggle to the top by starting out their careers with shoddy films. But then with some despicable films such as Shararat, Dhai Akshar Prem Ke, Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon, Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost and others, his career tumbled downhill and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.
He then made a comeback with better scripts and turned his destiny around, with Mani Ratnam’s Yuva, Shaad Ali’s Bunti Aur Babli and the super successful, Guru. His Dhoom series was also received well at the box-office and likewise, RGV’s Sarkar was when the audience went into a state of tizzy with the father and son duo sharing screen-space together (after their stint in Bunti Aur Babli) which created ripples at the BO.
Critical acclaim seems to have finally arrive for Junior Bachchan. Until, his scripts choices turned monotonous.
A still from Yuva
Playing second fiddle in multi-starrers and franchise disasters
Sometimes, when filmmakers or actors find that perfect formula to make a film after a great box-office success, then there’s no looking back. We’ve seen a number of actors play the same kind of roles. Like say, SRK is known as the King Of Romance, Aamir Khan has starred in a number of films that has a lot of bromance, and so on. Abhishek Bachchan (and even the filmmakers who approached him) stuck to multi-starrers after the huge success of Dhoom. But it didn’t really seem to work in his favour with duds such as Dum Maro Dum, Dhoom 3, Game, Players and the like. He got typecast after overdosing on the cop-versus-the-bad-guys roles, which probably bored the audience after a certain point of time.
Dhoom series
Sticking to big-budgets is sometimes hazardous
Hindi cinema has undergone a drastic change since the time AB entered the industry and he may not have been able to keep up with the times. This can probably be considered as the golden age of Bollywood with experimental, indie and regional cinema doing fantastic at the box-office. Indian audiences seem to have matured over time. With the kind of brilliant, realistic and mature content that is now available on the silver screens and online, this is the perfect time for seasoned actors as well as newcomers to showcase their talent. Abhishek Bachchan didn’t take advantage of this new scenario in Bollywood. Which is a bad move, obviously.
He slowed down after marriage
We guess he is more passionate about his family than his acting career, which is not really a bad thing, considering he probably has everything in his life a man could ask for: superstar parents and a superstar wife and a beautiful daughter. Today, he is more of a doting father who also does not seem too shy about accompanying his wife to her international events. He also humbly accepts that others in his family are more accomplished than him, which is again, very honest of him, if you come to think of it. Maybe, he was never meant to be a big superstar like the audience expected him to be. Maybe, he’s in a phase where he’s content in life. Who knows, he might just one day come up with a terrific film and prove us (and the trade pundits) wrong. But that, only time will tell. Until then, you can catch him in his next which will be directed by Nishikant Kamat and which is a thriller drama. Let’s see how that one fares at the box-office.
A still from Guru
