Some Rare Survivors Who Have Stood The Test Of Time And Still Go On....

In a world where giants, stalwarts and invincible iron men (and sometimes even women) have been wiped away or swept away by the howling winds and storms of change, it is great experience to see some ordinary human beings stand the test of time, face every storm and stand strong and tall to set examples for generations to come...

In the past we have seen titans like the trio of Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor and then there were others like Dharamendra, Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra besides many others, but they could not come anywhere near the original trio of Dilip, Dev and Raj. Rajesh Khanna was a phenomenon which was never seen before, but he was blown away by an unexpected storm which started slow, but went on a wild rampage and today fifty years and even after winning Dadasaheb Phalke Award which is supposed to be an indication of standing an actor into retirement, Amitabh Bachchan is still doing more films than any of the younger actors of his generation and even the new generation.

He was one actor who was busy every day of 2019. The fact that he had a big flop like “Thugs of Hindostan" with Aamir Khan and his co-star did not affect his image in a damaging way. On the contrary, he was as popular doing KBC in its eleventh season as he was while he was doing it during the first season.

He was also busy shooting for films in which he was playing the key roles at seventy-seven, films like “Chehre",“Jhund",“Gulabo Sitabo" and “Brahmastra". There was panic for a while when he was rushed to hospital where he spent four days and talked about time to take a break. But there was relief when after receiving the Phalke Award, he made a light comment in which he said that the Phalke Award was generally a sign for the receipent of the award to take it easy, go home and think about retirement. He said he still had some work to complete, which clearly sent out signals that he would continue to work in 2020 and even later. He had once said that he would like to work till his last breath and even if he had to work as a junior artist, as a part of a party scene or even just a crowd scene. We have seen him fighting it out so far. Let's see how far his fight takes him.

The other actor who has stood his ground has been Anil Kapoor. He has crossed his early sixties, he is a father and will be a grandfather, he is the head of his own production house, but his first love has been and will always be acting and one look at his ram-rod erect and strong body and the hunger in his eyes to give life to more and more difficult roles is enough for even a novice to predict that he is one actor who will not shake or cannot be shaken from his roots.

Among the Khans, it is still difficult to say who will be the ‘lambe race ka Khan'. Strictly going by the love of the masses and box-office collections, Salman Khan is leading the race right now, especially after the bumper response of his franchise “Dabanng 3". He turns fifty four on December 27 and will have to be very choosy about the roles he plays from now on. The only film he has on hand is “Raadhe" and nothing much is heard about it.

Aamir Khan may still be a much bigger star in China than he is in India, especially after the flopping of “Thugs of Hindostan". He is now putting his life into the making of “Lal Singh Chaddha" with Kareena Kapoor as his leading lady and Advait Chandan who last directed “Secret Superstar" as the director. The subject is about the sardars of Punjab community which is already grumbling and murmuring about their fears of their community being maligned. Shah Rukh Khan is still looking for a good subject and we all hope that the Khan of hearts finds the subject that will win hearts again.

Two more actors who are going very strong are Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar. They are both focussing on patriotic themes and they have the backing of the ruling government and especially the Prime Minister. How much good it will do to them will be seen in 2020.

Among the actresses it is sad to say, but nothing great seems to be happening on their front. The only good exceptions are perhaps Deepika Padukone who had been making a grand beginning with Meghna Gulzar's “Chhapaak", the true story of an acid attack survivor, which will be followed by ‘83" in which she will play Kapil Dev's (Ranveer Singh) wife. The other actress who will make news all through 2020 is Kangana Ranaut, who will start with “Panga" in which she plays a mother who bounces back into the field of kabaddi where she has lost once and wins, it will be followed by “Dhaakad" and then what she considers the most important film of her career, “Thalaivi", based on the life and times of the late Chief Minister and powerful Tamil Nadu leader Mrs J.Jayalalitha.

What does one say about the rest of the industry where there are any number of new actors and actresses, new directors, new producers, new corporate houses, new makers of new web-series, new makers of digital films and a whole new brand and breed of short filmmakers?

ARE WE ABOUT TO ENTER A NEW ERA OF BHELPURI CINEMA IN NEW INDIA???