Amitabh Bachchan retrospective to be showed at France’s 3 Continents Festival

A nine-film retrospective of Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan is set to showcase at the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, France.

The retrospective, titled ‘Amitabh Bachchan, Big B Forever’, will showcase a selection of some his most iconic films such as ‘Sholay’, ‘Deewar’, ‘Don’, ‘Kabhie Kabhie’ and ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’.

According to the festival’s website, “no other name sparks quite the same reaction, if only perhaps his heir apparent, Shah Rukh Khan, who couldn’t be more different to the current ‘king’ and who has shared the screen with him in several films.”

“Amitabh Bachchan is more than an actor: he’s a living legend whose face has been plastered on the walls of every street in the Indian subcontinent for over half a century, keeping his legend alive,” it added.

The directors to be featured include Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy, Manmohan Desai and Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Variety reported that the showcase is co-presented by Film Heritage Foundation, a non-profit that has hosted other retrospectives across India such as ‘Bachchan Back To The Beginning’, ‘Dilip Kumar – Hero of Heroes’ and ‘Dev Anand @ 100 – Forever Young’.

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“Film Heritage Foundation’s initiative to bring classic Indian films back to the big screen in India has been truly remarkable,” Bachchan was quoted as saying by Variety.

“I am so pleased to hear that they are co-presenting a selection of nine of my early films at one of the oldest and most reputed film festivals – the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, especially as it focuses on the cinema of Africa, Latin America and Asia.”

“I hope that the festival audience will enjoy the selection of films that continue to give so much joy to viewers half a century since they were made.”

Variety reported Jérôme Baron, artistic director of Festival Des 3 Continents, as saying that “Amitabh Bachchan is precisely, as he continues a career that began 50 years ago, the living and iconic embodiment of a link between the past and present of popular Hindi cinema.”

“He is on screen a unique performer and what no other actor has ever been, including in the history of European cinema.”

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The films slated to be featured within the retrospective include:

• ‘Abhimaan’ (1973)
• ‘Sholay’ (1975)
• ‘Deewar’ (1975)
• ‘Kabhie Kabhie’ (1976)
• ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ (1977)
• ‘Trishul’ (1978)
• ‘Don’ (1978)
• ‘Kaala Patthar’ (1979)
• ‘Satte Pe Satta’ (1982)

The Festival des 3 Continents is all set to take place from November 24 – December 3 in Nantes, France.