Filmfare Recommends: 15 Best Films of Abhishek Bachchan
Jessica Wilkins 1. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Manmarziyan (2018)
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Vicky Kaushal, Taapsee Pannu
There are no definable laws of attraction. And we don't know how we will behave once we are in love. Our behaviour becomes unpredictable. We swing from one extreme to the other, a small thing triggering off moments either of extreme ecstasy or of extreme depression. That's what Anurag is portraying through the film. Rumi (Taapsee Pannu), and Vicky (Vicky Kaushal) are a much in lust couple who believe in rutting like rabbits whenever time and place permits. But is there something deeper between them? That question comes to haunt them when they are once caught red-handed. Vicky is hugely commitment-phobic and just doesn't see them as a married couple. Rumi wants to settle down for the sake of love and understands one cannot survive on love alone. That one needs to own up to responsibilities as well. Tired of his procrastination, she agrees to marry Robbie (Abhishek Bachchan), an NRI who knows of her past but thinks he can handle it. She remains attracted to Vicky even after marriage while developing something of a friendship with Robbie. She feels he's too perfect for her and their marriage won't work out. He's not strong as he thinks he is and his patience is running thin... All three are caught in a maelstrom of emotions where one wrong step can mean the end of happiness...
2. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Housefull 3 (2016)
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Nargis Fakhri, Jacqueline Fernandez, Lisa Haydon, Jackie Shroff
Sandy (Akshay Kumar), Bunty (Abhishek Bachchan), and Teddy (Riteish Deshmukh) are in love with Ganga (Jacqueline Fernandez), Saraswati (Nargis Fakhri), and Jamuna (Lisa Haydon), respectively. They are the rich daughters of Batook (Boman Irani), a Gujarati NRI. They aren’t actually his daughters but the daughters of underworld don Urja Nagre (Jackie Shroff). Batook wants his daughters to marry his actual sons Rishi (Samir Kochhar), Rohan (Nikitin Dheer), and Rajeev (Aarav Chowdhary). A fortune-teller had told Batook that when the husbands of the girls first see, speak to, or set foot into Batook's house, Batook will die. The daughters manage to introduce the trio to their father by asking them to fake some disability. So Sandy becomes a cripple, Bunty becomes mute, and Teddy becomes blind. Nagre claims that Batook owes him 50 million pounds. And hence he’s compelled to marry his daughters to the grooms of Nagre’s choice. Mayhem ensues when Sandy, Bunty, and Teddy set out to con their way to earning that amount of money. After a long, gag-filled interlude, involving jokes aimed mostly at disabilities -- though there’s even a scene where the lads seek confession about mocking handicapped people -- the girls unite with their respective boyfriend and also with their long-lost real father, Urja Nagre.
3. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Happy New Year (2014)
Cast: Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah, Jackie Shroff
It's quintessential masala fare, hugely entertaining but defies logic. The Happy New Year is full of narrative flows and yet there is never a dull moment. It has revenge, friendship, romance, comedy, action, dances, foreign locations, and a happy ending -- what more can you ask for in an escapist fare? Charlie (Shah Rukh Khan) wants to exact revenge on renowned businessman Charan Grover (Jackie Shroff). Grover had conspired to declare Charlie's father, Manohar Sharma (Anupam Kher) as a thief and Charles wants to turn the tables. Charlie finds out that diamonds worth 300 crores will reach the Atlantis Hotel, Dubai on Christmas Eve. He wants to steal the diamonds and frame Grover. To accomplish this, he assembles a team comprising ex-Captain Jagmohan Prakash (Sonu Sood), who is hard-of-hearing, Tehamton Irani (Boman Irani), an old and seizure-prone safecracker and Rohan Singh (Vivaan Shah), a young intelligent hacker, and a lookalike of Charan's son Vicky Grover named Nandu Bhide (both played by Abhishek Bachchan). Since the Atlantis would be hosting a dance competition, they hire Mohini Joshi (Deepika Padukone), who is a bar dancer, to act as their dance teacher plus as a member of their troupe so that they can infiltrate the building easily. Along the way, their funky dance routines turn them into major celebrities and they now not only have to contend with the heist, but there’s also India’s honour on the stake as well at the competition. Abhishek received a lot of praise for his twin roles and was quite hilarious as Nandu Bhide.
4. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Bol Bachchan (2012)
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, Asin Thottumkal, Prachi Desai, Krushna Abhishek, Neeraj Vora and Archana Puran Singh
Bol Bachchan is inspired from the 1979 movie Gol Maal starring Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt. Prithviraj Raghuvanshi (Ajay Devgn), a former wrestler is a rich and powerful man in the village who hates lies and liars. His character has been inspired by the character essayed by late Utpal Dutt in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Golmaal. Abbas (Abhishek Bachchan) had come to the village along with his sister Sania (Asin Thottumkal) to start a new life after being duped out of their ancestral property. Abbas saves a child from being drowned in a well in a temple. His friend Ravi (Krishna Abhishek) tells everyone he’s Hindu to defuse religious temples. Prithviraj gives him a job as a supervisor and falls for Sania, while Abbas has hots for the thakur’s sister Radhika (Prachi Desai). Some people see Abbas in the mosque and he has to lie saying it’s his own kathak dancer brother who is Muslim. Utpal Dutt had an affinity towards pure Hindi in Golmaal, Ajay Devgn's character loves English and speaks his own version of the language, leading to phrases like "when the elders are getting cosy, youngsters don't get nosy". Abhishek’s web of lies and his confrontation scenes with Ajay is the soul of the film.
5. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Raavan (2010)
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Govinda, Nikhil Dwivedi, Ravi Kishan, Priyamani
Ragini Sharma (Aishwarya Rai) , out on a boating trip, is kidnapped by Beera Munda (Abhishek). Her husband Dev Pratap Sharma (Vikram), the superintendent of police, is informed of her abduction. He immediately uses all the forces he has at his disposal to get her back. What follows is a cat and mouse chase between Beera and Dev. Beera is supposed to be the villain and Dev is supposed to be the hero but all is not what it seems. Raavan is Mani Ratnam’s take on the Ramayana. Set against the backdrop of lush forests, deep gorges, inundated streams and never-stopping rain, the film is a visual spectacle alright. Close proximity to Beera, who is revered as a god among his people, makes Ragini realise his good qualities. She begins to understand why he became an outlaw. Beera is intense, unpredictable and yet shares a deep love for his people and is even ready to die for them. A bond of affection develops between him and Ragini. Dev takes advantage of that and in the end uses Ragini as a bait to trap Beera. Abhishek got under the skin of Beera and played him superbly well. It can be said to be one of the finest roles of his career.
6. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Paa (2009)
The film’s protagonist Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) suffers from a rare genetic condition known as progeria. He’s just 12 and quite an intelligent and mischievous kid. He behaves like any other tween in the world but physically looks like he’s five times more than his age. He lives with his mother Vidya (Vidya Balan), who is a gynaecologist. His mother has hidden his existence from his biological father, young politician Amol (Abhishek Bachchan), who didn’t want a child at that point of their relationship. Amol meets Arko at a school function where he is called as the chief guest and befriends the brilliant boy. Arko asks him to show the president’s house and Amol does so. Later, when Amol comes to know he’s Vidya’s son, he wants to reconnect with her but she’s still hurting because of his initial rejection. Arko makes it the mission of his life to reconcile the differences between his mother and father. His condition keeps deteriorating and he’s unlikely to outlive his 13th birthday. He’s promised by both at the end that they’ll marry each other and he dies content, calling them Maa and Paa together for the first and the last time. Abhishek Bachchan, who is Amitabh Bachchan’s son in real life, played his father in the film. Vidya Balan was wonderful as the mother, while Bachchan showed he can still surprise you.
7. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Delhi-6 (2009)
Cast: Waheeda Rehman, Sonam Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Aditi Rao Hydari, Rishi Kapoor
Delhi-6 is an old-school film about communal harmony. The film is the embodiment of the best qualities of old Delhi which were all about respecting every religion and lending a hand to your neighbour in times of need, of sharing both laughter and sorrow. Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) comes from abroad with his grandmother (Waheeda Rehman). He meets a motley crew of characters, who shape his view of Delhi, of India. Sonam plays Bittu, a girl who secretly wants to run away from the environs of old Delhi and make a name for herself as a singer. She wants to take part in the popular talent show Indian Idol. Though she likes Roshan, she wants to elope with Suresh (Cyrus Sahukar), as he has promised to help her advance her career. Roshan comes to her rescue at the critical juncture and she does reciprocate his feelings then, coming to know of Suresh’s true nature.
8. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Dostana (2008)
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Johan Abraham, Priyanka Chopra
In Dostana (2008) an attempt was made to showcase queer relationships in mainstream commercial cinema perhaps for the first time. But it was more of a spoof of the real thing in the sense that both protagonists were just pretending to be gay for material needs. Though, in that film too the mother kind of accepted the choices of her son. Sameer "Sam" Acharya (Abhishek Bachchan), a male nurse and Kunal Chauhan, a fashion photographer (John Abraham) are fun-loving, straight guys living in Miami. They both want to rent the same apartment owned by Neha (Priyanka Chopra). Her aunt refuses to rent it to them as she doesn’t want boys around Neha and to fool them, they pretend to be a gay couple. Both, however, fall in love with Neha and regret the decision. Things get more complicated when Sam’s mom turns up. She later accepts her son’s sexuality. But one of them still has to sacrifice his love for Neha...
9. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Sarkar Raj (2008)
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Supriya Pathak
Anita Rajan (Aishwarya Rai) the daughter of an industrialist in England wishes to build a power plant in Maharashtra and wants Subhash Nagare's (Amitabh Bachchan) help in it. Sarkar doesn’t like the idea at first, due to the fact that the power plant will be built in various villages, affecting the livelihood of 40,000 people. However, when his son Shankar (Abhishek Bachchan) convinces him of the benefits of the project to the state, he gives his blessings. Also, it’ll give Shankar a chance to get out of Mumbai and have his presence splashed across a wider spectrum in the state. Shankar and Anita begin campaigning in Thackerwadi to gain the support of the local public for the project and come close to each other. Sanjay Somji (Rajesh Shringarpure), leader of farmer's association opposes the plan, however, despite being close to Nagres at one point. The race to make the plant goes personal. Shankar's wife Avanti's car is bombed within the premises of Sarkar's villa, and Avanti is killed. Sarkar himself is admitted to a hospital. Shankar tries to kill the men responsible but this time he isn’t able to stay a step ahead of them. He’s killed by an assassin in Avanti’s presence. Sarkar bounces back upon learning this and has everyone responsible for the carnage killed one-by-one. He tells Avanti that these people were just pawns and the mastermind behind all this was his own guru, Rao Sahab (Dilip Prabhawalkar) who wanted his grandson Somji to take Shankar’s place. The film ends with Anita becoming Shankar's replacement.
10. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Guru (2007)
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhavan, Vidya Balan, Mithun Chakraborty, Arya Babbar
Guru is a biopic telling the story of business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani's rise to fame and fortune. Abhishek Bachchan essayed the titular role while Aishwarya Rai played his wife. The movie begins in a small village of Gujarat where a young man named Gurukant “Guru” Desai dreams of making it big someday. Guru goes to Turkey in order to enter the spice market but rather he decides to work for himself. The later Guru goes to Mumbai along with his wife and her brother and starts trading in cloth. He expands his business gradually and sets up manufacturing units of his own, under the name Shakti Corporation. Manik Dasgupta (Mithun Chakraborty), who publishes a newspaper Swatantra, treats Guru as his son. Guru likewise looks upon him as a father figure who gives him support during his early days of struggle in Bombay. Guru’s tactics grow more ruthless and border on unlawful activities as his business grows. He smuggles machine parts for his polyester mills, illegally creates goods, and manipulates stocks to make a higher profit. But when Manik Dasgupta learns that Guru's means of success are not always honest, he, along with a reporter of his newspaper, Shyam Saxena (Madhavan), decide to expose Guru's increasingly corrupt ways. A government enquiry ensues but Guru makes sure his shareholders are all with him. He’s subsequently cleared of all charges except two, for which he’s heavily fined but is able to pay off the charges and take control of his company once more. Abhishek gave one of the finest performances of his career as Guru, seamlessly growing from a young man to a middle-aged to an old man and keeping all the mannerisms intact.
11. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Sarkar (2005)
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Kay Kay Menon, Tanisha Mukherjee, Anupam Kher
Subhash Nagre (Amitabh Bachchan) is the most powerful person in Mumbai and runs a parallel government of sorts. He’s more powerful than even the Chief Minister of the state. He believes in helping the poor and helpless people and he is known for giving justice to those who can’t get justice from the police or the courts. When Rasheed (Zakir Hussain) tries to strike a drug deal with Sarkar; he promptly refuses on moral grounds and also forbids him from doing it himself. This leads Rasheed to hatch a plot to kill Sarkar. An attempt is made on Sarkar’s life but his younger son Shankar (Abhishek Bachchan) saves him. Shankar, who is initially not interested in his father’s business, now takes over the reins. He starts a campaign against his father’s enemies and gets them killed one-by-one. The opposite party tries to lure Sarkar’s estranged elder son Vishnu (Kay Kay Menon) into their fold. Vishnu tries to kill Sarkar and is reluctantly killed by Shankar. In the end, it’s shown that Sarkar has taken a backseat and Shankar has become the de facto head of the family.
12. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Bunty Aur Babli (2005)
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji
The film kind of started the small-town representation in Hindi films. Bunty (Abhishek Bachchan) and Babli (Rani Mukherjee) are two dreamers from their respective small towns who, tired of the limited aspirations of their parents, run away to explore their dreams. They bump into each other, form a bond, and start conning people to earn money. Their schemes get more fantastical with each heist and they start taking bigger and bigger risks. They soon gain popularity, thanks to their exploits being described in the local papers. DCP Dashrath Singh (Amitabh Bachchan), has vowed to catch them and there ensues a cat and mouse game between the duo and the diligent cop. The film became famous for its Kajrare song, filmed on Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek and Amitabh. The film was a huge commercial success.
13. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Yuva (2004)
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Vivek Oberoi, Abhishek Bachchan, Esha Deol, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukerji
The film revolves around the issue of student politics and gives the message that the youth have the power to bring about a real change if they are serious about entering politics. Lallan Singh (Abhishek Bachchan) is a goon in the employ of Prosenjit Bhattacharya (Om Puri). Michael Mukherjee (Ajay Devgn) is an influential student leader opposed to Prosenjit Bhattacharya. Lallan is ordered to eliminate Michael, who is saved by Arjun Balachandran (Vivek Oberoi), who was riding pillion on his bike. After interacting with Michael, Arjun gives up his plans to go to the US and joins Michael’s cause. Michael decides to run for the elections and Prosenjit again instructs Lallan to break up their union. Lallan kidnaps Arjun, who is rescued by Michael. He’s beaten up and sent to jail. Later, Michael and his fellow candidates win four seats at the elections, emerging as a strong force to reckon with in the future. Abhishek Bachchan was praised for his performance and won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film.
14. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Dhoom (2004)
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Uday Chopra, Esha Deol
The original Dhoom was said to be inspired by the Fast and Furious series. The film teamed up Abhishek Bachchan as a dedicated police officer and Uday Chopra as a bumbling car thief and racing enthusiast who go after the suave John Abraham and his team of dare-devil bikers who use superbikes as getaway vehicles. The bike chases looked totally badass, the camaraderie between the Abhishek and Uday worked as well, pulsating music -- its theme song became a rage -- and a hunky villain who robs more for kicks than out of any genuine need -- Dhoom hit upon the winning formula, what with the film turning out to be a bumper success at the box office. It gave birth to two sequels, Dhoom 2, which came out in 2006 and Dhoom 3, which came out in 2013. Both films too were highly successful at the box office.
15. Abhishek Bachchan Best Films - Refugee (2000)
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Sunil Shetty
This was the debut film of both Kareena Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan. Abhishek Bachchan works as an illegal guide who smuggles people across the Indo-Pak border. His business got a boost after the formation of Bangladesh after the Indo-Pak war of 1971. He herds refugees from East Pakistan into West Pakistan through the Rann of Kutch. He considers them nothing more than commodities till he meets Kareena Kapoor’s character. He falls in love with her during the crossing. Later, she entreats him to take her across the border to India as she doesn’t want to get married to the person chosen by her parents. They become intimate and she becomes pregnant. She later gives birth in the no-man’s-land between India and Pakistan. Though the film didn’t do as well as expected, both Abhishek and Kareena were admired for their natural ease in front of the camera. Their on-screen chemistry was admired as well.
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