Amitabh Bachchan’s 80th birthday celebrated with due grandeur

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On the momentous occasion of Amitabh Bachchan’s 80^th birthday, the Film Heritage Foundation announced an event spanning four days, titled Bachchan Back to the Beginning. It started on October 8 and ended October 11, his birthday, with11 of his films being screened—Don, Kaala Patthar, Kaalia, Kabhi Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Namak Halaal, Abhimaan, Deewaar, Mili, Satte Pe Satta and Chupke Chupke.  The gala covered 172 showcases and 30 screens across 22 cinema halls in 17 cities all over India.

On the night of October 10 at Mumbai’s PVR Juhu, filmmakers R. Balki and Gauri Shinde joined Shabana Azmi, Sanjay Kapoor, Chunky Panday, Shanaya Kapoor and Ananya Panday. It was a midnight surprise for Big B, that probably one his top three iconic films as an actor, Amar Akbar Anthony, was screened with special guests. The retrospective was organized by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and the Film Heritage Foundation. At midnight, all of them wished Big B a happy birthday.

Balki said, “I am just overjoyed to experience Amit-ji’s cinematic brilliance on the silver screen all over again. The tremendous and overwhelming response he has got from all over India, felt like we are living in the era of his early superstardom all over again! We are privileged to have a phenomenon like Amit-ji among us and his legacy will live forever.”

Among the other celebrations, the makers of the superstar’s latest release, Goodbye, wished him a very happy birthday with the release of their song, Happy Birthday. The makers also decided to keep the film’s ticket rates at Rs. 80 for the day!

The actor shot for Kaun Banega Crorepati on that day and among the visitors there were wife Jaya Bachchan and son Abhishek Bachchan. Wife Jaya mock-complained that her husband never sent her any appreciative notes or flowers that he did to many when he liked their work, and also asked him what he would do if they were stuck on an island together. Her husband, in the spirit of the show, asked her for options and she said there were none!

Abhishek recollected how his father had come to Kamalistan Studios to help him rehearse when he was appearing for his first screen test for Refugee. All these personal recounts left the veteran more than a shade teary-eyed. The whole exercise of both of them appearing on the show, revealed Abhishek, was done with a lot of planning and secrecy with the makers of KBC, as he added that his father deserved no less!

Obviously crazy fans thronged outside his bungalow and even office from the midnight of the 10^th to the entire day. Anup Jalota wished him a 100 years “starting from today!” as Amitabh remains an inspiration to all about the twin qualities of discipline and hard work.

The day ended perfectly with an intimate family dinner at home, as posted by daughter Shweta on her social media. She posted a picture with the words “Twinning and winning—perfect end to an incredible day”. Obviously, almost the entire industry wished him on the occasion, including co-stars, filmmakers and others.