Happy Birthday Abhishek Bachchan - From Ludo to Dasvi, enjoy the star’s popular films on OTT

Carrying forward the monumental legacy of the Bachchan surname, Abhishek Bachchan made his Bollywood debut 24 years ago with J P Dutta’s war film ‘Refugee’. Later, he went on to be a part of many successful movies such as the Dhoom franchise, political films like Yuva and Sarkar, even winning critical acclaim along with Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Actor for these roles, among others. In 2020, he plunged into the world of OTT, taking a leap of faith with Mayank Sharma-directed crime drama Breathe: Into the Shadows that premiered on Amazon Prime Video to amazing reviews. Here’s a list of the actor Abhishek Bachchan’s diverse array of roles played on different OTT platforms.   

Breathe: Into the Shadows

In the July 2020 release of Breathe: Into the Shadows, Abhishek Bachchan made his OTT debut as Dr Avinash Sabharwal, a man who would stop at nothing to keep his daughter safe from the dangerous hands of a kidnapper. The second season of the show, a psychological crime drama, started streaming in November 2022. Directed and produced by Mayank Sharma and Abundantia Entertainment, the series was divided into two seasons with 20 episodes and featured Amit Sadh and Nithya Menen in pivotal roles.  

Streaming platform - Amazon Prime Video

Also Read: Breathe: Into The Shadows- Director teases the surprises, thrills and the ‘big reveal’ in store for season 2 of Abhishek Bachchan starrer 

Ludo  

The Bunty Aur Babli actor had a noticeable presence in the ensemble cast of Anurag Basu's film Ludo, which included Fatima Sana Sheikh, Rajkummar Rao, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Pankaj Tripathi. Ludo delves into the notion that our lives are a maze of decisions and responses, with a seemingly random act setting us on our path. In keeping with the Ludo metaphor, Pankaj Tripathi's character Sattu acts as the catalyst or the dice, while the other characters represent the four colours of the game. Like how a butterfly's wing flap may cause a storm to form halfway around the world, Sattu's murder initiates events that will endanger the lives of others. In this dark crime comedy, which made its Netflix debut during Diwali of November 2020, Abhishek portrayed a goon named Batukeshwar "Bittu" Tiwari. Produced by Anurag Basu Productions, T-Series Films and Ishana Movies, the film opened to positive reviews and even received a whopping 16 nominations at the 66th Filmfare Awards.  

Streaming platform - Netflix 

The Big Bull

A 2021 Hindi biographical crime film is based on the real-life story of stockbroker Harshad Mehta. Abhishek Bachchan played the titular “The Big Bull” aka Hemant Shah in the 2-hour 33-minute-long movie released in 2021 on Disney+ Hotstar. Written and directed by Kookie Gulati, Junior Bachchan is shown going through the ebbs and flows of the stock market which occur concurrently in his personal life too. The riveting tale takes the viewers on a rags-to-riches journey of a Mumbai-based stockbroker who went from living in a chawl to becoming one of the biggest traders on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in the early 1990s and the array of financial crimes he resorted to during 1980s-1990s to get there. Also featuring Nikita Dutta and Ileana D’Cruz, the audience lauded Abhishek’s performance. However, the SonyLIV web series Scam 1992 made on the same theme six months earlier eclipsed The Big Bull’s popularity by a few notches.  

Streaming platform - Disney+ Hotstar 

Bob Biswas

 The 2021 action thriller film Bob Biswas was a spinoff of the Sujoy Ghosh directed 2012 cult blockbuster Kahaani Produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, the crime thriller streaming on ZEE5 since December 2021 was the directorial launchpad of Ghosh’s daughter Diya Annapurna Ghosh where Bachchan Junior was seen playing the titular role. Eight years have passed since Bob Biswas was struck by a car while being chased during the events of Kahaani. He has just come up from a coma and has complete memory loss, including that of his wife Mary and kids Mini and Benny. Bob Biswas is being watched by two Kolkata Police officials, Jishu Narang and Kharaj Sahu, as unbeknownst to Bob and his family, Bob is actually a murderer. The intriguing plot that follows thereafter made the rest of the story unfold. Bachchan Junior’s performance received appreciation from the critics.  

Streaming platform - ZEE5 

Dasvi

 In this social comedy, Abhishek played politician Ganga Ram Chaudhary, who, while in jail, sets out on a journey to complete his tenth-grade examinations. Produced by Dinesh Vijan under the banner Maddock Films in collaboration with Jio Studios and Bake My Cake Films, Dasvi drove home the point that those who don’t learn from history tend to repeat it. The movie follows the lives of bold, uneducated, and dishonest chief minister Ganga Ram Chaudhary who is placed in detention due to his criminal history, which includes educational fraud. His submissive and bashful wife Bimla Devi (Nimrat Kaur) becomes the chief minister in the fictitious state of Hamit Pradesh while he is imprisoned and grows to adore the authority it bestows. As a rigorous and law-abiding police officer named Jyoti Deswal (Yami Gautam) is named the new superintendent, the minister is being questioned inside the jail. Following a confrontation between the two, Jyoti refers to Ganga as "anpadh gawaar" and he decides to take up the task of finishing his Class 10 test.  

Streaming platforms - Netflix and Jio Cinema 

Ghoomer

Ghoomer, written and directed by R Balki, released in theatres in August last year. The sports drama, available on ZEE5, tells the story of budding cricketer Anina Dixit played by Saiyami Kher who loses her right hand in a freak mishap. Still, Padam "Paddy" Singh Sodhi (played by Abhishek Bachchan), an insensitive and unsuccessful test cricketer, offers her fresh hope in bowling. To change her bowling destiny, he trains her using unusual methods. They both create a unique bowling technique known as spinning, or "Ghoomer". With fewer than ten months remaining, can Anina be able to qualify and join the Indian women's squad as a bowler? Watch the movie to find out.   

Streaming platform - ZEE5.

Also Read: Ghoomer on OTT: Check out when, where and how to watch this Abhishek Bachchan, Saiyami Kher starrer 

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