Bollywood's angry young men down the years

New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) The angry young man, a character type immortalised by Amitabh Bachchan in "Zanjeer" way back in the 1970s, continues to be one of Bollywood filmmakers' favourite ploys that continues to be socially relevant as well.

The latest archetypical masala Bollywood flick to pay homage to the original -"Big Brother" - may not have garnered favourable reviews and may not rake in big bucks at the box-office, but it does reiterate the relevance of portraying the anguish of the suppressed even in times when India seems poised and shinning from certain looking glasses.

The film starring Sunny Deol as an angry young man and Priyanka Chopra as his muse marks the end of filmmaker Guddu Dhanoa's long hiatus. The film features Farida Jalal as Sunny's typical Bollywood screen mother. Others seen after a gap are Sayaji Shinde, Danny Denzongpa and Govind Namdeo.

The film comes at a time when talking about ills affecting India, like the highest number of malnourished children and maternal deaths in the world, has become old-fashioned.

In the 1970s Bachchan was introduced as the bold new face of a disillusioned generation. Much like the title, "Zanjeer" signified the unshackling of chains that were holding anger from brewing over.

Bachchan (Vijay) was angry and, consumed with anger, he let us watch him set things right with a flourish and super-power-like fighting abilities. Rumours had it that Mohammed Ali got nervous to fight his exhibition match in India, because he said he couldn't match Bachchan's on-screen prowess of being a super hero.

The film had come at the right time. It was the time when the first generation of young Indians had grown out of the "Desh Ki Dharti" syndrome and were out looking for jobs. Prices of food and other essential commodities were sky-rocketing and the then prime minister had clamped emergency. Vietnam had left its lasting memories and Naxalism had gobbled up entire families in police witch-hunts.

On the big screen, the reigning hero Rajesh Khanna was losing his steam and people were losing interest. In came a man with his fight against corruption, one of the earliest instances of the same in Indian cinema.

Interestingly, British cinema had its share of angry young man cultural movement in the 1950s. In 1956, John Osborne's play "Look Back in Anger" (filmed 1959) introduced a bold new voice into not just the theatre but English culture in general. Critics labelled this and similar works by Osborne's contemporaries as being part of the 'angry young man' generation, taking its name from the title of Leslie Allen Paul's autobiography (1951).

The label was also applied to Kingsley Amis ("Lucky Jim", 1953, filmed 1957), John Braine ("Room at the Top", 1957, filmed 1958), Shelagh Delaney ("A Taste of Honey", 1957, filmed 1961), Alan Sillitoe ("The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner", 1959, filmed 1962), Keith Waterhouse ("Billy Liar", 1959, filmed 1963), Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin, John Wain, Colin Wilson and Arnold Wesker.

Although not an organised and ideologically coherent artistic movement as such, the work of the 'angry young men' was characterised by outspoken dissatisfaction with the status quo, particularly with the so-called Establishment.

Reacting against stifling class distinctions, their work championed the working classes, with Osborne's Jimmy Porter becoming a figurehead: an intelligent, articulate, university-educated man denied opportunities through being the 'wrong' social class. These opinions were usually expressed in direct, straightforward language, rejecting the self-conscious experimentation of the immediate pre-war years. The angry young man film in British cinema flourished quickly and burned out just as fast in the early 1960s.

Along with Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor stroked the embers and thus began an era of angry young man films in Hindi cinema. A trend that resurfaced with Anil Kapoor taking up the baton in "Tezaab", which was set in the boiling underbelly of suburban Mumbai, with local goons not allowing ordinary people to earn an honest living.

Anil, however, was not keen on carrying forward the mantel of angry young man and preferred to diversify.

Sunny Deol, son of Dharmendra, began as a romantic hero but soon progressed to roles of unemployed angry young man out to get justice. He gave the blockbuster "Ghayal" and delivered acclaimed performances in movies like "Damini", "Arjun" and "Jeet". The actor, however, has still not being able to win over the title from Bachchan.

There have been other contenders as well. Starting from Aamir Khan to Abhishek Bachchan to Akshay Kumar to Akshaye Khanna. Among the reigning stars, Ajay Devgan has displayed the similar kind of intensity in his eyes as Amitabh.

The many years of struggling to get into the top reckoning in Bollywood has made Ajay an insightful actor who can speak with his eyes. In "Gangaajal", he came more close to clinging the crown of angry young man than any other actor.

On the other hand, films like "Rang De Basanti", "Munnabhai MBBS" and "Lage Raho Munnabhai" have shown that to make a difference anger need not be the only means. Last year when many young Indians took a stand for causes like the Jessica Lal murder case and the Priyadarshini Mattoo rape and murder case, they gave a new dimension to the angry young man.

The angry young man lives on whether in the form of someone who smashes fists into the enemy's face or who goes the "Gandhigiri" way.

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Finding oneself was the theme for other multiplex cinema release of the week -"Life Mein Kabhie Kabhie" - with struggling actors like Dino Morea, Aftab Shivdasani, Sammir Dattani, Anjori Alagh, Nauheed Cyrusi, Annuj Sawhnney, Koel Puri.

The Vikram Bhatt film is not a remake and tells the tale of trials and tribulations of youth in search for illusive happiness.

This is Vikram's second film this year. His previous release "Red" sank without a trace.

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The consecutive flops have led film folks to worry. It seems that after raking in big bucks in 2006, Bollywood has hit a lean patch, with a long list of letdowns at the box-office in the first quarter of 2007. Even India's first-round exit from the cricket World Cup hasn't helped bring much cheer. All eyes are on the next big release - "Tara Rum Pam.

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