Amitabh Bachchan retrospective to debut at Festival des 3 Continents

A student of the Gurukul School of Arts makes a painting of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan
| Photo Credit: ANI

Fans of Hindi cinema have been witnessing a series of successful retrospectives all over India in the last year – “Bachchan Back To The Beginning”, “Dilip Kumar – Hero of Heroes” and “Dev Anand @ 100 – Forever Young” to name a few.

Now, the Film Heritage Foundation is all set to co-present ‘Amitabh Bachchan, Big B Forever’ at the 45th edition of the prestigious Festival des 3 Continents, which is set to take place from November 24 to December 3, 2023, in Nantes, France. The festival offers feature films from Africa, Latin America and Asia and screens, in the fiction and documentary films segment.

The retrospective will feature nine blockbuster films of the legend, such as Abhimaan, Sholay, Deewar, Kabhie Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Trishul, Don and Kaala Patthar.

Amitabh, in a statement, said that he is pleased to hear about the Film Heritage Foundation’s initiative. “Film Heritage Foundation’s initiative to bring classic Indian films back on the big screen in India has been truly remarkable. Many of these films gave me an opportunity to play a diverse range of characters and work with some of the most significant filmmakers of the time including Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Manmohan Desai, Yash Chopra and Ramesh Sippy. I hope that the festival audience will enjoy the selection of films that continue to give so much joy to viewers even half a century after they were made. Even though I will not be there in person, I am delighted that my daughter Shweta will be in Nantes to represent me at the festival.”

Amitabh’s daughter, Shweta Bachchan, said, “This is a special occasion for me as I have the opportunity, for the first time, to represent my father, on an international platform. I would like to thank the Film Heritage Foundation for their exceptional commitment and ability to showcase classic Indian cinema and draw audiences back to the big screen when no one had faith that this would be possible.”

I saw the phenomenal success of “Bachchan Back to the Beginning”, the retrospective they curated on a massive scale to celebrate my father’s 80th birthday last year. Many of us in the family were watching his films on the big screen for the first time and we were overwhelmed. The films being screened in Nantes cover varied genres that will give the audiences at the festival the opportunity to see my father’s remarkable versatility as an actor,” the statement read

Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director of Film Heritage Foundation said, “We had presented an eclectic selection of Indian classics in the Indian Autumn stream of the festival last year and saw the enthusiastic response to the films from the festival audience. We would like to thank Jérôme Baron, the Artistic Director of the festival for giving us another opportunity this year to showcase nine Amitabh Bachchan films spanning a period from 1973 to 1982 when Mr. Bachchan was at the peak of his career. Mr. Bachchan is an actor who is a worldwide phenomenon and an indefatigable champion for the cause of film preservation and when we conducted a country-wide retrospective of his films last year, the cinemas were packed and the audiences went crazy. Mr. Bachchan has been a childhood hero for me and it gives me immense pleasure to screen some of my personal favourite Amitabh Bachchan films as part of such a prestigious festival.”

Jérôme Baron, Artistic Director of Festival Des 3 Continents, said, “The Festival of 3 Continents finds its breath and inspiration by combining its curiosity for contemporary cinema with that nurtured since its origins for classics that are often poorly known or unknown to Western audiences. And Amitabh Bachchan is precisely, as he continues a career that began fifty years ago, the living and iconic embodiment of a link between the past and present of popular Hindi cinema. He is an on-screen unique performer and what no other actor has ever been, including in the history of European cinema. After a fruitful collaboration in 2022 with the Film Heritage Foundation, we want, by seizing the ball thrown of the “Bachchan Back to the Beginning” festival launched last year, to pay Amitabh Bachchan for the first time in France a tribute in nine films.”