Super icons: Bachchan & Tendulkar, rightly consecrated

Tendulkar - File Image

by Sharmila Ravinder

(February 23, Bangalore, Sri Lanka Guardian) Super icons are not made - they are crafted. They are moulded together piece by piece with qualities that are manna from the unknown forces. These men are tested from time to time and they always persevere gallantly. They are not intimidated about being dethroned, they brandish their craft instead, their only effective weapon. They tear to shreds cynicism and brouhaha with finesse. They speak less and observe more, a trait that is fast unbecoming of the popular and corroborated in isolation by super icons. Their craft remains their two edged sword. These super icons stand out amongst a galaxy of stars, one is the everlasting light, and the other is a perfect ten.

Amitabh, the ever-lasting light has been burning brightly for the last sixty-eight years. The light continues to conflagrate any conundrum that one may have about the actor and his craft. I was not born when Sholay, Zanjeer and Deewar were made, the time when he had revolutionized into the “Angry young man”. The first movie I saw of Amitabh Bachchan's was Don, many years after its release. It was at that time I first grasped the ideology of “God”. With inadequate comprehensive abilities of the plot, I witnessed the resurrection of Vijay on the VHS player. Only God could come back alive I thought. At several junctures of his horological career that now spans over four decades, the Actor has continually resurrected himself. From silver screen to small screen to his ambassadorship roles to the endorsements he undertakes, his dedication tapestries finely over his various roles.

Recently, Amitabh Bachchan was rated as the number one television host,with the TRPs for KBC opening at 6.2 as compared to Shah Rukh Khan’s, Zor Ka Jhatka at 2.6. There are not many who have emerged stronger than he has in the last forty years and more so in an industry where one can be at the zenith and return to base camp in forty winks. Yes, he has had his share of slumps professionally and has had a fair share of tribulations on the health front too, but he has always come back like a Goliath. Many so called luminaries in Bachchan’s profession have burned out like a dwindling star into the nadir of their own kismet, but Bachchan in contrast has scaled the heights. The master mountaineer has a strong foothold in his vocation. It would be interesting to plot the career graphs of the Khans over four decades. Would they come close? Bachchan’s dedication is exemplary on and off screen too. He has been blogging for 1,037 days non-stop. How many Actors can match that? Bachchan protects his privacy ferociously and maintains relationships defiantly and we find fault with this. Why do we desperately seek travesties in these super icons? Does their status simply invite us to?

A famous banner read, “Sin as much as you wish when Tendulkar plays, for the Gods are busy watching him too”. Mathew Hayden too had commented during Australia’s tour of India in 1998 "I have seen God. He bats at no. 4 in India in Tests." I religiously followed Sachin from the time I was in school. I was a devout follower of Diego Maradona and during my ritualistic thesis of Sportsworld and Sporstar magazines; I had stumbled upon an article that indicated Tendulkar adored Maradona. There could not have been a better reason for me to begin my veneration for this super icon. I would sneak into class a small squeaky radio, wrap it under my blazer and put my head over it during jaded sessions and listen to the soft husky voice of Gavaskar whisper into my ears “That’s a six from Tendulkar!” These words would instigate a passion which could never be unleashed in a class full of students and an extremely boring teacher, but those priceless moments have been relived many times over the years.

Yes, even Tendulkar has had his share of slumps and he has extraordinarily uplifted himself and cover driven every critic into oblivion. This is a firm trait only becoming of the perfectionist. I have watched Tendulkar at the MCG during the Boxing Day test matches; a hush descended when he walked in, the Aussie crowd sipped their beer without a murmur while the Indians went down on their knees. God blessed us with his willow, he then looked up to the heavens and brandished his weapon to the thundering firmament. Does any other cricketer deserve this veneration?

All of us have that one defining moment firmly captured in our hearts, the moment when we first deified the super icon. In India, cricket and cinema are religion, super icons are immortalized and their canonization is inevitable, it happens a long time before they hang up their gloves and step away from the spot light.