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The Worst Amitabh Bachchan Films

The reviews last week's Aarakshan got, all unanimously suggest only one thing: that while the film was disappointing, Amitabh Bachchan was great in it. It's not the first time that's happened, and unlikely to be the last.

Bachchan, one of the most prolific leading men in the history of cinema, has shown up in his fair share of turkeys. Here are some recent films that didn't help Amitabh's filmography at all.

Want to add to the list? Just write in!

Teen Patti (2010)

He acted opposite Sir Ben Kingsley, sure, but there was little of merit in Leena Yadav's film besides these two gentlemen sharing the screen.

A derivative and mixed-up film about card-counting, this preposterous production even had Jackie Shroff playing an Italian. Bizarre.

Read the full review here.

Aladin (2009)

Sujoy Ghosh's catastrophic take on this classic story featured Bachchan as a genie called Genius and Sanjay Dutt as an evil former genie called Ringmaster.

And while both of them ham it up loud and proud, the misspelt film only works in small patches. Maybe two scenes, that is.

Read the full review here.

Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007)

Ah, where does one begin? From Bachchan's Osama-like 'Babban' to Nisha Kothari in Hema Malini's Basanti role, this work of staggering blasphemy was a disaster of unprecedented proportions.

RGV's nadir and, quite possibly, Bachchan's worst film, and one fans could never forgive him for endorsing.

Read the full review here.

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007)

Fine, this nightmarish Shaad Ali film didn't have Bachchan as leading man -- son Abhishek and Bobby Deol starred opposite Preity Zinta and Lara Dutta -- but the enduring image from this exhausting watch is that of Amitabh dressed like a cockatoo lipsyncing ENDLESSLY to the title song.

Read the full review here.

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (2006)

Unquestionably the most painful of Karan Johar's melodramas, this slapstick drama (yes, you read that right) about adultery was an immature film masquerading as an adult.

Bachchan played Sexy Sam, an old man dressed like a particularly tacky gangster rapper, who, while better than any of the film's leads, offered little consolation.

Read the full review here.

Family (2006)

A launch vehicle for Aryeman Ramsay that stalled on the starting line, this unwatchable Raj Kumar Santoshi film featured Akshay Kumar as a cook and Amitabh Bachchan as a mafia don with a penchant for cigars and for rolling his tongue around his mouth.

A low point for both men, despite the fact that they do so many films a year.

Read the review here.

Ek Ajnabee (2005)

Apoorva Lakhia's ripoff of Tony Scott's Man On Fire featured Amitabh Bachchan in the Denzel Washington role.

That's pretty much all that one needs to say to sum up the sheer lack of perspective shown by the filmmakers when bankrolling this project. And as if it wasn't bad enough, Arjun Rampal's around as well. Aargh.

Read the review here.

Viruddh (2005)

Mahesh Manjrekar's Viruddh isn't the most execrable film in the world, but it makes its way onto this list merely because of how shamelessly it whores itself to advertisers.

Product placement is often unsubtle in our films, but here characters show off packs of oil and hum jingles and actually quote product taglines. Unbelievable.

Read the review here.

 

Kyun... Ho Gaya Na (2004)

The question is in the film's title. Kyon ho gaya indeed. Starring the Big B alongside then-lovebirds Aishwarya Rai and Vivek Oberoi, this harebrained Samir Karnik film is the sort of clumsy romance we thought we'd left behind in the early 1990s.

A very, very hard film to watch, this. As Bachchan keeps saying in the film, "mind-blasting." Literally.

Read the review here.

Deewar: Wall Of War (2004)

Milan Luthria has never been a filmmaker known for delicate nuances, and this bellowingly loud war film where soldiers break into Pakistan to save Bachchan, an Indian Army major imprisoned there in 1971.

A painfully jingoistic film with all sorts of calamitious cultural goofups, this one's as unwatchable as they come.

Read the review here.