Ye desh hai superheroes ka
The megastar, the superhero
Bollywood likes its equations simple. Superheroes = larger than life. Amitabh Bachchan = larger than life. Therefore, this is the only man who can really carry off a cape and secret crime-fighting identity.
Even as Hollywood successfully concentrated its energies on putting rookie kids in the sky and having multiple-Oscar winning villains, making the Big B a superhero wasn't a bad idea at all. The actor hadn't been having a great time at the box office through the 1980s, despite the occasional Mard. The 1983 Coolie incident created hysteria among the people, but also necessitated a progression in Bachchan's iconic Angry Young Man image. There needed to be More, he needed to come across as Even Bigger, and with mainstream filmmakers beginning to believe children's cinema was the right way to go, the 80s suddenly saw the actor prance into comic-book mode.
Star Comics, an India Book House subsidiary, launched a tragically limited run of Supremo, a completely original and uber-filmi superhero. In the comics, Amitabh Bachchan the actor would double as Supremo the crime-fighter. What he didn't possess in terms of superpowers, he would make up for in intelligence and dexterity. With Gulzar as a writing consultant, I remember the comics as amusing and referential (Manmohan Desai can be seen on the sets with Bachchan) and often even educational (at least that's where I learned tamancha is another word for pistol).
Plus, the curiously dressed Supremo (no underwear on the outside for Mr Bachchan, obviously) had his friends. Like in Coolie, he had a falcon on his shoulder, this one called Shaheen. There were two enthusiastic Robin-style sidekicks, Anthony and Vijay, named after his memorable on-screen alter egos. The comics weren't promoted aggressively and didn't do as well as planned, but were certainly a fine effort.