바카라�The Real Superstar바카라�: How An Outsider Sees Amitabh Bachchan

Frank Williams is confiding in his friend Veeru about how he was mistaken for someone else by a family in a bungalow. He didn바카라�t protest. Instead, he went along because of how familiar the bungalow felt. This is an oddly acted scene from Hum Kaun Hai? (2004), painfully flitting between dialogues in Hindi and English. Starring Amitabh Bachchan as Frank and Dharmendra as the friend (named after his character in Sholay, probably as an in-joke), they바카라�re both far from their element. The scene (or the film) would feature nowhere near either of their showreels, but such is the beauty of Cedric Dupire바카라�s The Real Superstar 바카라� an irreverent, experimental archive of Bachchan바카라�s life, which not only showcases this scene, but uses it for a very specific effect within its narrative. I was amused, startled and impressed by Dupire바카라�s pick.

Recently showcased at the MAMI Mumbai film festival 2024, a lot of cinephiles wandered into a late-evening screening of the film, unsure about what to expect. Most showed up probably because of the instantly recognisable face on the poster: Bachchan in his costume from Ajooba (1990). The veteran actor바카라�s face might adorn practically every minute of the film, but this is Dupire바카라�s film through and through. He uses scenes from Bachchan바카라�s films to communicate why he was such a darling of audiences, while also closely examining his God-like status in India.

Dupire was in Rajasthan in 2002, where he was making a documentary on the folk musicians, when he was introduced to Hindi cinema. He remembers seeing Bachchan바카라�s face plastered on most places his eyes went to. Only a few months ago, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) had released. 바카라�At first, I was interested in fans, people 바카라� I couldn바카라�t understand this devotion to an actor. I found out that people know dance steps and dialogues by heart,바카라� says Dupire over a video call, 바카라�... just like how people in France know their chanson by heart.바카라� Dupire started off with an idea around Bachchan바카라�s lookalikes. He stuck with it for some time, which eventually didn바카라�t pan out.

The 45-year-old filmmaker realised he was fascinated by how his audience were seeing Bachchan 바카라� almost like popular cinema could give them the answers. And the person delivering the answer would become God. 바카라�And then the core idea of the film became about how he바카라�s a character in my film: where he바카라�s the actor that he is, but he바카라�s also what people see him as.바카라�

The 69-minute documentary touches upon the macro milestones in Bachchan바카라�s life story. For his birth, Dupire uses the staple Bollywood scene where a doctor announces in typical fashion: 바카라�Mubarak ho, beta hua hai!바카라� His adolescence, his youth, his breakout moment as a star, his struggle with fame, his near-fatal injury on the sets of Coolie, his unsuccessful tryst with politics, business, and his resurgence as one of the most iconic actors to have ever graced our screens. Dupire바카라�s film is mostly exceptional, sometimes contrived, in its use of footage from existing Bachchan performances. Take for example: the film opens with Amitabh Bachchan gingerly walking towards the camera sporting his red jacket in Majboor (1974). As he closes in, the light bounces off his perfect face. A star is born.

As an outsider and someone who wasn바카라�t bred with the Bachchan kool-aid in his youth, Dupire바카라�s film has some startling observations on the star. 바카라�One thing that fascinated me is his search for reality, after being the protagonist in a make-believe world for so long. What was happening in the supposed real life, permeated into his work, and bounced off again into the real world바카라� Wow! What could be the life of a character, who was leading such a messy life!바카라�

The documentary often makes a montage of his on-screen actions, which were clinically the same. Bachchan바카라�s panther-like stance when he was sprinting towards a bad guy, or the way he used the revolver in his left hand and gritted his teeth, or his internal demolition when he would be around his ailing mother. As much as the repetition might please the 바카라�fans바카라� by highlighting his signature shots as a star, Dupire바카라�s film also seems amused by the sheer monotony of it. The filmmaker sees Bachchan바카라�s popularity as a labyrinth the star seems lost in. 바카라�I think I got the main crux of my narrative through the double-role films, where he바카라�s facing himself. Who is he? Which is the real him? I think his crisis of a singular identity really stuck with me.바카라�

Dupire was conscious about not making a film that looked like a 바카라�best-of바카라� showreel. There바카라�s deliberately very little of Deewar (1975), Sholay (1975), practically nothing from Shahenshah (1988). Instead, we see him taking a swig of rum from a bottle on his bedside table, before going to sleep in Abhimaan (1973), as a way to say how he probably coped with the sudden celebrity after Zanjeer (1973). While the documentary does touch upon some of his great later works like Khakee (2004), Dupire바카라�s selection is pure in the way he picks Aetbaar (2004) featuring Supriya Pilgaonkar with him 바카라� hardly a memorable film in Bachchan바카라�s filmography.

A scene Dupire wishes he could have used in the film is from this rather well-intentioned, terrible film from Bachchan바카라�s leanest phase. 바카라�It바카라�s a scene from Main Azaad Hoon (1989) where an image of him is addressing nearly a hundred thousand people inside a stadium. It was a surprising scene for me, compared to the rest of his career.바카라� The filmmaker says he바카라�s been collecting DVDs of Bachchan바카라�s film for almost a decade now, and that he바카라�s seen 140 films featuring Bachchan. 바카라�The formats are always changing: when it was on DVD it was 4:3, but now on streaming I think most of the films are in 16:9.바카라�

As much as Dupire바카라�s film is an affectionate tribute to why Bachchan is a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon, it also closely looks at the man with curiosity. He uses a visceral montage of reel Bachchan losing his grip on reality, riddled with self-doubt, to communicate what it might be to live with the noise of being a superstar for over five decades. How does it affect you? Are you a normal person after that? One of the film바카라�s biggest successes is how it manages to be both fan art and is also believable as an autopsy of a superstar.

The Real Superstar was a part of a Bachchan retrospective in the 3 Continents festival in Nantes (France), attended by Shweta Bachchan-Nanda. Dupire is yet to meet the man himself 바카라� something he considered doing while making the film and then decided against it, lest it contaminate his character. 바카라�I바카라�ve not had direct contact with him, but I was told by someone that he did watch the film and enjoyed it.바카라�

The Real Superstar played at the MAMI Mumbai film festival 2024