The other day, I managed to catch two films, almost back-to-back, on cable (I have been to movie theatres only thrice in my life -- two were Ray films, the other was Jurassic Park)

Fantastic four

The other day, I managed to catch two films, almost back-to-back, on cable (I have been to movie theatres only thrice in my lifeu00a0-- two were Ray films, the other was Jurassic Park). They had nothing in common except for one fact-- both had managed casting coupsu00a0-- Righteous Kill (2008; Al Pacino, Robert De Niro) and Shakti (1982; Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan). Any greatest actors list would be farcical without this quartet.

While Shakti is one of the finest Hindi films ever made, Righteous Kill will miss the top 1000 Hollywood movies' list comfortably. But to be honest, I enjoyed watching both. Apart from a polished star cast (don't forget Smita Patil, Amrish Puri, Rakhee), Shakti also has a great script, considered an improvidence in mainstream Bollywood. Dilip Kumar is splendid as always, and Amitabh Bachchan proves his mettle rather than just chewing the scenery, which he is so prone to doing these days. The songs don't get on your nerves; most of them are rather agreeable.

Righteous Kill only has a semblance of a story. But on certain rare occasions, you watch a movie just for the actors. This is not one of Pacino's virtuoso performances, same for De Niro. And playing veteran cops with high-voltage libidos can hardly bring out the best from the 70-year-old and the 67-year-old, respectively. But they are still who they are-Pacino, arguably the greatest movie actor ever (yes I have considered Brando, Olivier) and De Niro, never known to put a foot wrong (watch The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle). Just seeing them together, in the same frame, playing off each other, is mind-boggling. Perhaps best elucidated by the reaction of an undertrial who's paid a surprise visit by the two prosu00a0-- "Sh*t! What are you two sc*mbags doing here?"

We have seen their best and their worstu00a0-- Dilip Kumar (Aan, Devdas, Mughal-E-Azam vs Izzatdaar, Qila); Amitabh Bachhan (Deewar, Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony vs Toofan, Mrityudaata, Black); Pacino (Godfather, Serpico, Scent of a Woman vs Gigli, Revolution, 88 minutes) and finally De Niro (Taxi Driver, Godfather II, Capefear, Raging Bull vs Hide and Seek, Flawless)u00a0-- but you judge artistes by their best. Dilip Kumar is from another generation and has been off active duty for a while, De Niro is into analysing comedies these days, but Pacino and Bachchan, the latter in particular, have gone blatantly commercial. It might be heart-wrenching to see some of their most recent work, but perhaps they have earned the right to make the kind of money that they do at their age. So, I salute them all, this week, when an ex-wife's 2D war movie pipped her ex-husband's 3D war movie to the Oscars.