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Amitabh Bachchan – The Mumbaikar?

04th July 2005 09.01 IST
By Agencies

He may hail from Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad to be more specific, but after over three decades in Bollywood, mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan takes a fancy in portraying out and out ''mee Mumbaikar'' characters in two back-to-back films.

The just-released Sarkar saw Bachchan as the protagonist Subhash Nagre, a character with some shades of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's persona, while in Viruddh , releasing later this month, he will be seen as a typical middle class Maharashtrian father fighting the system to seek justice for his dead son.

Sarkar is produced by Ram Gopal Varma 's company Factory, while Viruddh is a Mahesh Manjrekar -directed film produced by Big B's company A B Corp to be released on July 22.

Bachchan stars opposite Censor Board chief Sharmila Tagore , who makes a comeback in films after a long hiatus.

In Viruddh, Bachchan plays Vidyadhar Patwardhan, resident of Vile Parle East, a pre-dominant middle class Maharashtrian locality in the suburbs.

It may be recalled that the megastar had inaugurated the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Sammelan at Dombivali near Mumbai in January this year. In his brief speech in Marathi, he acknowledged the influence Marathi-speaking people had cast on him throughout his life in Mumbai.

Last year, in Farhan Akhtar 's film Lakshya , Bachchan had essayed the brief role of Col Sunil Damle and had mouthed a Marathi proverb in one of his dialogues.

As Subhash Nagre in Sarkar, he speaks one or two lines in Marathi -- ''Thamba (wait)'', ''Kai Zala (What happened)'', ''Kay Challay (what's happening)''.

But, movie buffs who saw the film felt that even though the ambience of the family in Sarkar was Maharashtrian, the ethos was missing. This could be attributed to the background of the director Varma who hails from Andhra Pradesh.

Perhaps, Mahesh Manjrekar as a Maharashtrian would be able to capture the quintessential ethos in Viruddh, they say.

Bachchan and his wife Jaya Bachchan had made a special appearance in a Marathi film ''Akka'' produced by Big B's make-up man Deepak Sawant in 1994. They appeared in the movie in a Ganpati ''aarti'' in Marathi.

The mega superstar's special appearance, however, did not help the film, which sank without a trace.

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Amitabh Bachchan
Sarkar
Viruddh
Ram Gopal Varma
Mahesh Manjrekar
Sharmila Tagore
Farhan Akhtar
Lakshya
Jaya Bachchan