Bachchan’s `Angry Young Man’ image celebrated through an exhibition

KOLKATA : The `Angry Young Man' of Indian cinema – Amitabh Bachchan – is being celebrated at the Kolkata International Film Festival being held here with an exhibition dedicated to his life and work.

One of the biggest draws in the exhibition has been a section dedicated to showing the rise of Bachchan showcasing his roles in movies such as Zanjeer (1973), Deewar (1975), Sholay (1975), Kala Pathar (1979) and Shakti (1982), which established him as the `Angry Young Man' of Bollywood.

Issues such as rising unemployment, price rise, crime, the resultant social turmoil and the protagonist's fight against the `system', were recurring themes of these movies made in the 1970s and 1980s which established the `Big B' as the reigning `Shahenshah of India's and Asia's movie world.

Exhibition curator and KIFF office-bearer Sudeshna Roy told PTI, ''Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had first broached the idea of doing something as a mark of tribute to Big B, and KIFF chairperson Raj Chakraborty and others decided to hold the exhibition.

Bachchan, who turned 80 earlier this year, inaugurated the 28th edition of the film festival on Thursday.

Speaking at the inaugural, the legendary actor had said "Since early times there have been many changes in cinema content ... from mythological films and socialist cinema to the advent of the angry young man ... to the current brand of historicals, couched in fictionalized jingoism, along with moral policing."

The actor had also pointed out that even now "questions are being raised on civil liberties and freedom" by Indian cinema. KIFF is holding an exhibition on a living legend for the first time. Earlier, similar exhibitions were held on legends such as Satyajit Ray, Soumitra Chatterjee, Ingmar Bergman, and Akira Kurosawa.

The exhibition, which is being held at two venues in Gaganendra Pradarshansala and Nazrul Tirtha, will continue till December 22.

Other sections of the exhibition cover Bachchan's childhood, his stint in the corporate world as an executive at Bird & Company in Kolkata and his family's ties with that of Jawaharlal Nehru., his foray into politics in 1984, and ups and downs in his political career till 1987.

It also shows his return to the film industry and his success since then.

A section also shows Bachchan as a family man, with photographs of the couple in their youth and their two children.

Jaya Bachchan, who had co-starred with Big B in Abhimaan, inaugurated the exhibition on Friday.