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Khwaja Ahmad Abbas’ Saat Hindustani might not be the most watched of Indian films, but it marked the beginning of the career of Amitabh Bachchan, arguably the most watched Indian film actor. In this 1969 film Amitabh played the role of Anwar Ali, an Urdu aficionado from Ranchi, Bihar, who along with five different men from across India joined hands with Maria from Goa against the Portuguese rule in Maria’s home state.

Here’s the scene where the Superstar of the Millennium (thanks to fan-atic Indians voting for their favourite star. Bachchan said that he would’ve voted for Marlon Brando) make his first ever appearance on the silver screen. And 46 years on, he is still there.

“Yeh arantu parantu ki bhasha aapne bas ki nahi,” Anwar Ali Anwar says disparagingly of Hindi. The interesting tidbit here is that the actor playing Anwar Ali happened to be the elder son of the great Hindi poet – Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

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It’s Amitabh Bachchan’s 73rd birthday today.

(This has been re-purposed from a 2007 post)