Film still of Amitabh Bachchan
At 80, Amitabh Bachchan is the grand old man of Indian cinema - rather, he would be had he not been forever seared into public consciousness as the Angry Young Man that made him a star half a century ago. Through the Seventies and Eighties, Big B made his name playing characters who were fast and furious; revenge was a recurring theme and there was sometimes a righteous kill. There was always an origin story for the fury and in most instances, justice of some sort was dealt out - sometimes by Big B, sometimes to him. On his birthday, five films in which he was angry, angrier, angriest.
Zanjeer (1973)
It all began with Amitabh Bachchan's first hit film, in which he played an honest police officer named Inspector Vijay Khanna who is jailed on false charges. Once released, he is bent on vengeance on the man behind his imprisonment - who also turns out to be the villain who murdered Vijay's parents when he was young. The evil Teja was played by Ajit.
Deewar (1975)
A trade unionist is blackmailed into to abandon his wife and two young sons, the older of whom, Vijay, bears the brunt of the consequences - his arm is tattooed with the words "mera baap chor hai" (my fatheris a thief). The brothers grow up and pick up opposite sides of the law. Vijay takes to crime, the younger brother Ravi becomes a police officer. Their long-suffering mother has to choose between them and thus the immortal lines from Amitabh Bachchan's Vijay: "Mere paas buildings hain, property hain, bank balance hain, bangla hain, gaadi hain. Tumhare paas kya hai? (I have buildings, property, bank balance, a bungalow, cars. What do you have)?" And it's response from Shashi Kapoor's Ravi: "Mere paas Ma hain (I have mother)."
Trishul (1978)
Again named Vijay, Amitabh Bachchan played the illegitimate son of a wealthy businessman (Sanjeev Kumar) who disowned him and his mother, played by Waheeda Rehman. The adult Vijay is bent on revenge in the form of ruining his father professionally and personally. He weaves a tangled web of ruthless corporate manipulation until his father takes a bullet for him, dying but not before uniting his illegitimate son with his legitimate family.
Kaalia (1981)
For once, Amitabh Bachchan was not named Vijay. He begins the film as the good-natured slacker Kallu who is forced to beg his older brother's boss for financial help after said brother loses his arms in a mill accident. Refused help, he breaks into the boss' home to steal money only to be caught and jailed after which he becomes the criminal Kaalia. The older brother dies and Kaalia embarks on a life of crime with the ultimate goal of revenge against the cruel boss, played by Amjad Khan.
Agneepath (1990)
No longer young (in fact, quite definitely middle-aged) but still angry, Amitabh Bachchan played one of his best-known Vijays - the son of a village schoolmaster driven by the murder of his father and the attempted rape of his mother, both engineered by underworld don Kancha Cheena (Danny Denzongpa in one his most famous roles). "Poora naam (full name), Vijay Deenanath Chauhan," Amitabh Bachchan intones in the film - it is one of his most iconic lines. Vijay avenges his parents but only be walking a fiery path, the agneepath of the title, through the criminal underbelly of Mumbai.
Happy birthday, Amitabh Bachchan. There will never be another.