Mid-week Masti – Kismat Connections

Another mid-week interlude – this time we will cover some interesting connections and coincidences Amitabh has had with people across the world.

1. The Dev Saab similarity?

   It is a difficult task to spot many similarities between the works and styles of AB and Dev Anand. Though one can say that they both continue(d) acting late into their advanced years and took on many interesting roles.  Dev Saab was clearly the more daring  by taking the bizarre roles of:

   • Prime Minister
   • Censor Board Chief
   • Cricketer
   • A man in love with someone purported to be his sister due to a plot contrivance

   While AB didn’t quite follow in all of Dev Saab’s footsteps, he did reprise one of the absurdist roles listed above!

   Q1: Identify which of the above roles was also done by AB.

   Q2: Identify the AB movie and co-star (heroine)

   Q3:  Identify the Devsaab movie and co-star

2. Hollywood/Bollywood: Mirror Effect (Due apologies to Bachchan-saab – I know he doesn’t like the term Bollywood)

   Similarities between a Hollywood movie and a Bollywood movie:

   Scene: A few goons get on the train and harass an “Abla Naari”. The protagonist is riding in the train. Among the goons is a struggling extra/bit-role player who will later go on to become an established performer (and also in some way “starring” with the protagonist in at least one later film).

   Differences start from here:

   In the Hollywood movie, the protagonist (more of a wry comedy king) decides to play the meek guy and ignore the thugs for the most part – one of whom went on and became a famous action hero. In the Bollywood movie, our action hero (AB, of course) jumps to the rescue and thrashes up the goons – one of whom graduated to become, ironically enough, a comedy king of his own right in Hindi movies and TV.

   Q1: Identify the Bollywood movie.

   Q2: Identify who was the goon in that movie who went on to become a comedy star

   Q3:  Identify the Hollywood movie and the actors involved

3. Amitabh has had interesting co-stars with American (not necessarily Hollywood) roots or fame. With following clues, identify them and the movies they worked together in.
   • The Titanic loverboy – enough said!
   • A New York-based real estate scion (No, not the current occupant of WH – though both of them did appear in Zoolander!), who got notoriety through trying to light dogs on fire in a case of rehab gone awry. While not a Hollywood or Hindi movies regular, he did have a few Hollywood and Bollywood roles, one of them being in an Amitabh movie.
   • Another New York Socialite, more known for her association with a culinary show, but who has also dabbled in movies/TV roles – briefly.