Amitabh Bachchan's role in both the Shoojit Sircar films he has done - Piku and Gulabo Sitabo (Shoebite is presently getting a shoebite in the cans) have one common trait. They are both annoying. But they bring out two distinct reactions from the viewer. Bhaskor in Piku is annoying because of his health circumstances, and there is an endearing quality in how he keeps on irritating his daughter. He isn't a bad person at all, which isn't something we can say about Gulabo Sitabo's Mirza. Gulabo Sitabo: 5 Characters Who Leave the Most Impact in Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana’s Black Comedy, Ranked on Impact (SPOILER ALERT).

Mirza isn't just a grumpy old man that every single one of us have come across in our society at one point of time. He isn't embittered by his age or neglect but is someone who has been driven by greed, perhaps throughout his life. The funny part is that he is a pretty harmless character, but his intentions are pretty flawed. Like, waiting for his older-in-age wife to die, so that he can get her ancestral mansion in his name. Or trying to legally evict his tenants, just to massage his hurt ego.

Amitabh Bachchan in Gulabo Sitabo

Sircar never gives a sob story to Mirza a sob story to justify his actions. If you feel bad for him in the end, it's more out of a wry pity. This is a pretty unusual character for Amitabh Bachchan, who does have fun with the role. We can't call him a villain, he is too amusing to be that (remove the humour and he is a pretty despicable man). But we love both the greys both in his hairs and in his character. Gulabo Sitabo Movie Review: Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana Are Amusing as the Flawed Leads in Shoojit Sircar’s Black Comedy.

This is not the first time that Amitabh Bachchan has gone unapologetically grey in a movie, where he impressed us with his anti-hero roles. Let's look at the six other times where we enjoyed his negative turns.

Parwana

Amitabh Bachchan in Parwana

One of the best thrillers in Hindi cinema, Sriram Raghavan's Johnny Gaddaar, owes a lot to this underrated 1971 thriller. In his first negative role, Big B plays a scorned admirer who hatches and executes a convoluted plan to kill the father of his object of affection. Raghavan uses this plot device as an inspiration in his film where his anti-hero also uses similar tactic to carry out his robbery plan.

Saudagar

Amitabh Bachchan in Saudagar

The late Sudhendu Roy's 1973 drama stars Amitabh Bachchan, Nutan and Padma Khanna, featuring a very strong act from Nutan. Amitabh Bachchan plays a selfish, opportunistic trader in jaggery who marries a woman to get good-quality material from her, only to ditch for a younger woman.

Don

Amitabh Bachchan in Don

This Chandra Barot classic has Amitabh Bachchan in a double role. While one of the characters is a true filmy hero, the other one - the don - is unapologetically bad, killing people mercilessly and a very ruthless criminal. Shah Rukh Khan reprised the same role in Farhan Akhtar's 2006 remake of the film.

Aankhen

Amitabh Bachchan in Aankhen

Vipul Shah's debut film is an engrossing heist thriller with a multistarrer cast. Amitabh Bachchan plays a schizophrenic bank manager, who is seething over his ouster from the organisation after violently beating a corrupt employee. In revenge, he hires three blind men and blackmails a teacher to train them in stealing the same bank.

Kaante

Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Mahesh Manjrekar in Kaante

Sanjay Gupta's remake of Reservoir Dogs pays tribute to the spirit and violence of the Quentin Tarantino film, while also expanding the backstories of its lead characters. Big B plays the de facto leader of the criminals who plan and execute a bold bank robbery, only for things to go awry. While he has a sob story back home, that doesn't abdicate him of his crimes and justifies his wrongdoings.

Nishabd

Jiah Khan and Amitabh Bachchan in Nishabd

I still feel the hate for Nishabd came more so because people were shocked to see a revered actor like Big B in perhaps his most riskiest role to date. Who expected him to play a character, a happily married man who ditches his marital bliss by falling for his young daughter's best friend. Coming during the time when Ram Gopal Varma's career was on a downslide, Nishabd was certainly a bold movie with touches of both Lolita and American Beauty.

Gulabo Sitabo also stars Ayushmann Khurrana, along with Farrukh Jafar, Vijay Raaz and Brijendra Kala. The movie is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 13, 2020 07:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).