The 72 year old acting veteran ‘Amitabh Bachchan’ has been an icon for more than 40 years now. Over the years he has been labelled with many names such as ’The Angry Young Man’, ‘One-Man Industry’, ‘The Undisputed Godfather Of Bollywood’ etc. And with the help of his dynamic acting abilities, he has continuously proven why he is considered the greatest of them all. He has worked in so many great movies that it is kind of difficult to filter out his best movies from a list of great iconic movies. So, to make the list look justifiable I have compiled the list of only movies of his yesteryears. I hope diehard fans of Mr. Bachchan are convinced with my explanations.
1. Zanjeer (1973)
This is where it all changed. Though, Big B had impactful performances in Saat Hindustani and Anand but he was yet to prove himself as a solo actor. Hindi Cinema got a new star and ‘the angry young man’ as quoted by the media. It also marked the end of Big B’s struggle. This movie had such an impact that people found this movie as the alternative satisfaction to the problems of nation’s corruption and economic turndowns. The story is about an orphaned young man who always believes in doing the right thing and prefers his duty above everything else. He has nightmares of a horse over the years because the only thing he saw of the killer of his parents was a bracelet with a horse attached to it.
2. Deewar (1975)
British Director Danny Boyle once quoted Deewar as ‘absolute key to Indian cinema’ and referred the film as an influence on his Academy Award Winning ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. It changed the way Hindi cinema was seen all over the world. Parveen Babi’s character ‘Anita’ changed the rules for the Bollywood heroine. Over the years, it has garnered a huge fan base due to the unforgettable performance by Mr. Bachchan. The story is about two brothers and how their perceptions and choices lead them in their lives.
3. Sholay (1975)
If one is considered as the greatest movie in the history of Indian Cinema then using a variety of words to describe it would be a foolish thing to do. Over the years, no other movie has seen as many jokes and parodies made in comparison with Sholay. Even after so many years whenever it gets a rerun in any theater then it gathers a good number of audiences. It has been followed in such a manner that people even remember the dialogues of the actors playing the cameo roles. The story is about revenge by a policeman against a dacoit who killed his family members and for that he takes aid of two criminals.
4. Shakti (1982)
The writing duo of Salim-Javed has been renowned over the years as the greatest story creators of Bollywood and this movie can be said as the fine example of their superiority over the years. The movie highlights the father-son conflict which has been often compared by media with conflict of Mahatma Gandhi and his son Harilal Gandhi. Played by Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan, both of them were nominated for the Filmfare awards in the category of Best Actor which was eventually won by Dilip Kumar. The story is about a police officer whose work ethics are so important to him that he does not even hesitate to sacrifice his own son.
5. Agneepath (1990)
It’s rare when a commercially unsuccessful film gets popularity, recognition and a national award for best actor, but it all happened with Agneepath. The film’s title was taken from a poem written by Late Shri Harivansh Rai Bachchan and the poem was also eventually used in the film. The style in which Big B portrayed the character of ‘Vijay Dina Nath Chauhan’ has been one of the most mimicked characters over the past two decades. The story is about revenge against a drug trader by a Gandhian teacher’s son whose father was treacherously killed.