Angry Young Man

There is not any set of rules by which you could define ‘the angry young man’ term but it roughly describes a person, a group of people who are not happy with the system and will fight till the end. In Bollywood, amitabh was awarded with this title when he was portraying roles that clearly fit in definition.

Amitabh debuted in 1969 with SAAT HINDUSTANI. For six odd years he kept on doing romantic as well as comical roles. He also did some serious role but none of these ever proved worthwhile. He was still a struggler in the Bollywood. Prakash Mehra’s ZANZEER was released in 1973 which was his solo hit. It gave him some respite but there were two other films of 1975 which made him a legend. They were DEEWAR and SHOLAY, both of which were released in 1975.

These three films together made him ‘the angry young man’ especially Yash Chopra’s DEEWAR. There were some unforgettable dialogues in the movie and the look on Amitabh’s face made everything scene much more authentic and intense. That intensity, that look became Amitabh’s benchmark and he became a living legend. Dialogues like ‘tum mujhe bahar dhundh rahe the aur main tumhara yaha intezar kar raha tha’ (you were searching everywhere for me and I was right here waiting for you) and’ jao pahle us admi ka sign leke aojisne mere bap se sign liya tha, jisne meri maa ko dhakke deke bahar nikal diyal tha aur jisne mere hath pe ye likh diya tha. Tab mere bhai tu jis paper pe kahega main sign kar dunga’ (go and bring the sign of that man who took the sign from my father, go and bring the sign of that man who stoned my mother and threw her out of the job, go and bring the sign of that man who had written this on my hand. After that! After that my brother the paper you would tell me I would do the sign on that paper).

It was his action films which established him in the Industry. People recognized him from these movies. He became Vijay, a man who fights for others. It was an image which best suited an indian’s conscience. No doubt his popularity rose. Later he did other works having romantic roles, comical roles but his main stress was always upon Angry Young Man kind of roles.

Bollywood on remake road

Unlike Hollywood remakes are a new phenomenon in India but it is slowly catching up. Starting with DON, some of biggest Bollywood blockbusters have been remade or are being remade.

DON released in 1978 had amitabh in lead role. No need to say that movie was a trend setter. Hence it was quite obvious that if a remake is to be made then it must start with don. Farhan akhtar did that with his version of DON (2006) starring shahrukh khan. Similarly ramesh sippy's SHOLAY (1975) was remade by Ramu in RAM GOPAL VERMA KI AAG. There are many versions of Devdas available in market having its own set of superstars.

the question is why producers and directors are running towards making remakes. Why the sudden rush? A term bhedchal best describes the recent phenomenon. Remakes are being made by talented directors but remakes do not guarantee success. Numerous instances are available, both in Bollywood and Hollywood, which can prove it. Why would movie goers pay for a movie whose story they already know?

Reasons are many. The first is we want to see the difference. We want to judge the movie; whether it is better or worse? Do the current actors perform better or worse? We are intrigued and we want to feel the chill ourselves. Most of the remade movies are not as successful as their earlier versions were. DON was successful but not as successful as Amitabh’s DON. At the same time, RGV’s AAG failed miserably at the box office as compared to the path breaking SHOLAY and its Gabbar Singh.

Same fate occurred to UMRAO JAAN. Despite good performances, movie was a big commercial failure. DEVDAS is an exception. Movies have been made, both in hindi and Bengali, and have been successful with a varying degree.

One thing is proved though. History can be repeated but the results may or may not be. Similarly remakes can be made by anyone, no need to bother about scripts and all, but it is very tough to recreate the magic of earlier.