By Quaid Najmi
As he turns 80 on October 11, the living legend Amitabh Bachchan - Bollywood's biggest superstar in its 110-years' history - can look back with satisfaction at his long career on the silver screen, where he became a icon along with a galaxy of leading ladies.
It was in 1969 - when man landed on the moon - that Bachchan took his first small step with "Saat Hindustani", which ultimately proved to be a gigantic leap for his megastar-dom.
But he stood out in his maiden film - in the crowd of six other actors jostling for screen space in the pacey thriller themed on the Goa Liberation - with the sole female revolutionary - Shahnaz Vahanvati (daughter of the comedian Agha), gunning to free the west Indian territory from Portuguese clutches.
Subsequently, Bachchan notched a record of sorts, working with six generations of new, established, senior or junior heroines ranging from Mala Sinha and Nutan to Rani Mukherjee and Jiah Khan, as he essayed roles ranging from the hero, villain, son, brother, dad, grand-dad, thief, swindler, bank robber, trickster, superman, chieftain, dacoit, ruffian, mafia don, mugger, smuggler, gambler, freedom fighter, patriot, armyman, poet, writer, teacher, professor, principal, singer, musician, romanticist, ghost, miner, comedian, cancer patient, and many more... to become firmly etched in the psyche of the global film audiences.
A Bollywood film producer estimates that in his 50 decades of acting, Bachchan may have worked alongside at least 50 female actresses.
He could woo the cutest or the crabbiest of females with ease in his films, often becoming an endearing pair, and occasionally even more... (in one case).
For Mala Sinha and Nutan (both 1936 born), Bachchan was younger when they romanced him in "Sanjog" (1972) and "Saudagar" (1973) respectively.
For the 1942-born Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee (born 1978) and Jiah Khan (1988) were virtually grandkids when he played cupid with them in "Black" (2005) and "Nishabd" (2007) - but nobody had heart-burns.
Then came a bevy of beauteous belles, both heroines or vamps, with whom he laughed, cried, fought, sang, danced, drank or even died.... depending on the role - from his struggler days to becoming a conqueror atop the peak in Bollywood.
In his initial period, there were Shahnaz Vahanvati, Nita Khiani ("Raaste Ka Patthar"), Aruna Irani ("Bombay To Goa"), Padma Khanna ("Saudagar") and Bindu ("Abhimaan") and Helen ("Imaan Dharam" and "Don").
Growing up to stardom, Bachchan worked with the diminutive Raakhi Gulzar in several films "Kabhie Kabhie", "Trishul", "Bemisal", "Barsaat Ki Ek Raat", "Kasme Vaade", "Shakti", "Kaala Patthar", "Muqaddar Ka Sikandar", "Jurmana", "Anusandhan", "Reshma Aur Shera", "Shaan", and "Ek Rishta: The Bond of Love".
Gossip notwithstanding, he and Rekha excelled in films like "Do Anjaane", "Mr Natwarlal", "Silsila", "Muqaddar Ka Sikandar", "Ganga Ki Saugand", "Khoon Pasina", "Alaap", "Namak Haram", and "Ram Balram".
Another killer pairing the audiences relished was with the ravishing and peppy Zeenat Aman in memorables like "Don", "Laawaris", "Roti Kapda Aur Makaan", "The Great Gambler", "Dostana", "Pukar", "Mahaan", "Cinema Cinema", and "Ram Balram".
Sometime in 1976, during the shoot of "Chhaila Babu", Zeenat and Bachchan happened to be staying in the same hotel. That evening, Zeenat came out screaming that a burglar entered her room and scooted with her jewellery and other valuables.
On hearing this, Bachchan immediately gave a hot chase to the speeding thief who managed to escape - Zeenat lost her treasures, but Big B won her admiration!
There was another amazing pairing with the gorgeous Parveen Babi in "Deewar", "Majboor", "Amar Akbar Anthony", "Khuddar", "Kaalia", "Namak Halaal", "Do Aur Do Paanch", "Suhaag", and "Shaan", giving value for money at the BO.
Bachchan - with Jaya Bhaduri - before and after they tied the knot had several memorables like "Abhimaan", "Zanjeer", "Chupke Chupke", "Mili", "Sholay", "Bansi Birju", "Silsila", "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham", "The Great Leader", and "Ek Nazar", among others.
Hema Malini played some great roles with Bachchan in "Satte Pe Satta", "Sholay", "Andha Kanoon", "Trishul", "Naseeb", "Desh Premee", "Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap", "Baabul", "Nastik", "Gehri Chaal" (as siblings), "Kasauti", "Sadhu Sant", "Veer Zaara", "Baghban" and "Do Aur Do Paanch".
Bachchan's favourite Waheeda Rahman was mostly seen in mature roles, though even as a heroine a couple of times, in films "Adalat", "Mahaan", "Kabhie Kabhie", "Trishul", "Reshma Aur Shera", "Coolie", "Namak Halal" and more.
In "Adalat" and "Mahaan", Waheeda played both mother and wife to Bachchan who was in a double role as her son and hubby.
Bachchan was seen with Jaya Prada ("Sharaabi", "Aakhri Rasta", "Aaj Ka Arjun", "Khakee", "Ganga, Jamuna, Saraswati", "Jaadugar", "Insaniyat", "Indrajeet","Kohram"), Sharmila Tagore ("Besharam", "Faraar", "Desh Premee", "Virrudh", "Eklavya") and Sridevi ("Inquilab", "Khuda Gawah", and "Aakhri Rasta").
Others he acted with include Saira Banu ("Zameer", "Hera Pheri"), Mumtaz ("Bandhe Haath"), Tanuja ("Pyar Ki Kahani", "Deewar - Let's Bring Our Heroes"), Tabu ("Kohram", and "Cheeni Kum").
Bachchan shared screen space with other actresses like Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Meenakshi Seshadri, Neetu Singh, Tina Munim, Asha Parekh, Dimple Kapadia, Poonam Dhillon, Yogita Bali, Rati Agnihotri, Revathy, Sushmita Sen, Moushumi Chatterji, Ranjeeta, Deepa Sahi, Padma Khanna, Bindu, Padmavati Rao, Nafisa Ali, Asin T., Supriya Pathak, Vidya Balan, Rohini Hattangadi, Raveena Tandon, Manisha Koirala, Juhi Chawla, Kajol, Bhumika Chawla, Shilpa Shetty, Jacqueline Fernandez, Soundarya, Madhavi, Amrita Singh, Swaroop Sampat, Kareena Kapoor, Kim Sharma, Preeti Jhangiani, Bipasha Basu, Preity Zinta, Priyanka Chopra, Laxmi Chhaya, Kimi Katkar, Neelam Kothari, Ramya Krishnan, and several others in non-Hindi films, etc.