The legendary Hindi cinema icon, Amitabh Bachchan celebrated his 80th Birth Anniversary this week. As the nation came together to shower him with love and wishes, I couldn’t help taking a walk down the memory lane. It was May 1973 when his first hit (hindi) film Zanjeer hit the silver screens. In around eight to nine months, the iconic actor would have completed five decades of keeping his audiences captivated (discounting the string of flops before that).
In these five decades, the Shahanshah (Emperor) of Bollywood continued to reign the kingdom, with roles being written for him. His extraordinary career has a lot to teach professionals across the board. First, however, I would like to share five key lessons that we can learn from Big B at 80.
The Start matters but not as much. There’s so much focus on the beginnings. Everyone dreams of making it big with their first job, first big opportunity, first client and first project. Tremendous emotions and aspirations (and much procrastination) are associated with the firsts. A good start is indeed essential, but not as much. It can provide a good impetus but is not a sign of long-term success.
Mr Bachchan’s career is a living example that the journey to the last determines true success. Contrarily, there have been several others who have shone much with the first but faded gradually.
It is possible to Resurrect.Faced by spiralling downfall, many often lose hope, and some lose hope too soon. In his career, when everything was going south, Mr Bachchan dared to take the unconventional route by being the first megastar of the big screen to have transitioned to the small screen. Legend has it that Kaun Banega Crorepati, (the hindi franchise of Who wants to be a Millionaire) not only helped him emerge from bankruptcy but brought him closer to the audience across the nation.
Professionals across the industry need to learn the importance of staying grounded and true to their talents, but at the same time, be welcoming of opportunities and adapt when the chips are down.
Reinvent to stay relevant. In an industry where it is easy to get type cast, one needs to reinvent to survive with relevance continuously. Amitabh Bachchan continues to do so today. After hitting the pinnacle with the Angry Young Man image, he has successfully made his mark in movies across genres, essaying roles that are humorous, problematic, larger than life, or ordinary, young and old. As he aged, he embraced more character-based roles and kept challenging himself.
The list is endless, whether it was Paa, The Last Lear, or Black. Like the film industry, in various other professions, we usually allow the perception to settle in and become stronger that we are fit for a certain kind of role or job. More importantly, many of us get into our comfort zone and do not allow ourselves to try newer avenues, to learn, upskill, and reinvent. It’s something for all of us to ponder how we can reinvent to stay relevant.
Discipline.When we speak of work-life balance, Amitabh Bachchan is still working for 14-15 hours at his age. His discipline is legendary, and this rigour for perfection and professionalism has played a pivotal role in his achievements.
When passionate about one’s profession, the old adage of work is worship comes true. Instead of wasting time on superfluous discussions, professionals should devote time to their craft and make the most of it. There is no substitute for hard work, discipline and humility displayed towards one’s profession.
Age is just a number. No, it is not. We change with age, and so does our situation. We will be slower at 80 than we were in our 20s. We cannot be that carefree or careless. But we can still maximize our potential as appropriate for our age. That should be our goal to live life to the fullest, which does not mean enjoying carefree fun, but rather realizing our capacities and capabilities as much as possible.
At 80, I wish Mr Bachchan would continue to guide us and continue to be a living legend for the world for many more years.
