Yet, take a step back and is it really a surprise that Bachchan reveals himself to be this hugely accomplished actor who would rather take an sms poll before he signs a film? A question follows. Who is he embarrassing more by his dissembling now: himself or us?

In a way, this is a question more specific to the celebrity of Amitabh Bachchan than any other. For all his uncommon talent, he has not been an artist at odds with his time, or in battle with it, like filmmaker-actors V. Shantaram and Guru Dutt, for instance. They went against the tide, kept making films that may not have been commercially successful, but in retrospect are deemed social and aesthetic landmarks. Or more recently Naseeruddin Shah, the man whose name Bachchan himself takes with undisguised respect and a certain yearning.

Bachchan was not ahead of his times either, like actors Moti Lal and Ashok Kumar, who brought a seemingly effortless ease to the screen that was completely unconventional in their own time. Then, in order to act you had to be seen to be doing so. These actors’ understated style flouted the dominant grammar of theatrical acting.

Instead, Amitabh Bachchan’s career has been built on his ability to second-guess the demand of his time, the immense talent he has brought to bear in pandering to it, and his marvelous flexibility in changing when his time changed.

What has made Amitabh Bachchan a “living legend” is not the potential he showed in the beginning of his career to break the mould. The gangly actor with the overlong legs and brooding eyes who joined the industry was such an unlikely chocolate-box hero. Be it Anand or Namak Haram, he could only play foil to the fairer and much-rouged Rajesh Khanna.

... contd.