Nostalgia, gravitas and credibility: How brand Bachchan stands tall at 80

Bachchan, who turned 80 on Tuesday and whose career spans over five decades, was most recently seen in family drama 'Goodbye'

If Vijay rings a bell as an era-defining persona, so do a bland professorial Sukumar Sinha and an avuncular quiz master hogging TRPs on weeknights.

The many roles of Amitabh Bachchan never seem to fade away, and even his latest in the triad mentioned above is already decades old.

The legendary actor, who turned 80 on Tuesday, continues to entertain new fans and old after close to six decades of a career marked in equal measure by longevity and stardom.

If at all any proof was needed, an ongoing rerun of Bachchan’s iconic films, including Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Chupke Chupke (1975), and Satte Pe Satta (1982), is running houseful.

“Since Amitabh Bachchan, the biggest superstar of Bollywood, was reaching an important landmark, we thought of celebrating it with the help of the Film Heritage Foundation to bring back the memories of his iconic movies,” said Ajay Bijli, Chairman and Managing Director, PVR Limited.

The response, he added, was “phenomenal once we opened the advance bookings”. The shows were booked fast and the multiplex chain even had to decline booking requests from celebrities, Bijli said.

Maheep Sachdeva, a movie goer in New Delhi, found the experience of watching a young Bachchan on screen surreal. “I had only heard of his monumental stardom from the 1970s. Getting to witness it on the big screen and seeing the superstar in his prime made me realise that I don’t always have to watch movies with my fingers on the fast forward button.”

Brand Bachchan is only strengthening with time. According to Kroll, Bachchan, at $54.2 million, was the sixth most valuable celebrity in 2021, still ahead of actors like Deepika Padukone and Salman Khan, and even cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

Bachchan has been endorsing brands across industries ranging from food and beverages to consumer durables, jewellery and financial services. He continues to grow his endorsement portfolio, and some of his notable new endorsements include Dabur Red Paste and Maaza, pointed out Aviral Jain, managing director, Kroll. “Big B is also the face of several leading brands such as Kalyan Jewellers and Manyavar — businesses that have grown by leaps and bounds,” Jain added, explaining Bachchan’s climb from number 9 to 6 in a matter of a year

What is it about the brand that makes it tick even after all these years?

“Gravitas,” said Sandeep Goyal, brand expert and MD, Rediffusion. “His biggest strength is his gravitas, which is very visible in how his stature has carried the show Kaun Banega Crorepati all these years. It is this gravitas that translates into trustworthiness,” he added.

Others feel it is the superstar’s ability to reinvent with changing times that has endured his brand equity.

Samit Sinha, founder, Alchemist Brand Consulting, said: “He came into prominence in the 1970s and while he did not have the typical chocolate boy looks, he represented the mood of the country with the angry young man image and that came to be imprinted in people’s minds.”

While this was immediately followed by a period of relative irrelevance and mounting financial troubles, brand Bachchan stood the test of time. “Clearly, there was a strong residual image that he had, which created a strong platform for him to make a comeback with Kaun Banega Crorepati. The medium penetrated every household and Bachchan’s booming baritone gave him a second lease of life,” added Sinha.

Audiences agree.

“I would look forward to the show as Bachchan and Computer ji threw question after question at us. Everything about the show was endearing — from how he spoke to contestants, to how he would surprise people during the ‘phone a friend’ moment, or when he asked ‘kya kijiyega aap itni dhanrashi ka?’ (what would you do with so much money?), he really brought the family together for that one hour,” recalled Poonam Mehta, 30.

The superstar’s longevity is also credited to his versatility and resilience.

According to Bollywood director Avinash Das, his choice of characters — from the angry young man in the likes of Deewar (1975) and Don (1978) to playing the irritable old man in Piku (2015) or even playing a mentor in Black (2005) — has shown that “versatility can keep an actor alive on screen for as long as one wants”.

Ad film guru Prahlad Kakkar felt that after Bachchan could no longer be the “angry young man”, he just started reinventing himself every 10 years.

It is also Bachchan’s professionalism that has helped cement his position as a superstar. “He has always been a stickler for time. So much so that I even remember setting two alarms, asking my driver to wake me up on time, and despite all that not being able to sleep a wink in the night before I had to shoot with him, all because I knew he would be on location on time,” recalled Kakkar.

Whether it is the Bhoothnath series (2008, 2018), Paa (2009), or Piku, Bachchan has also catered to the younger audiences. Even his endorsements are a testament to this versatility. His social media followership — 48 million on Twitter and 31.4 million on Instagram — has also been on the rise. “This steady and growing digital followership has helped the versatile actor to endorse new-age companies like MediBuddy and upGrad,” added Jain.

For instance, Arjun Mohan, CEO, India, upGrad, said that the edtech firm’s target audience was young learners, who were aspiring to study abroad and which required their parents to invest.

“The objective was to reach a broader audience base and Amitabh Bachchan was the perfect choice that would echo in every household. He accelerated our messaging and credibility while creating a lasting impression on people living all around the world,” he explained.