Half way through 2005, perhaps no one in Bollywood has shown as much versatility as the 60 something Amitabh Bachchan.

He has already been seen in three major films, one of which, "Black", is a clear benchmark in Bachchan's career.

And in the next two months this indefatigable showstopper is expected to be seen in four other films - or rather five counting the guest appearance in Mahesh Manjrekar's "Struggler", which opens July 22.

Amol Palekar's "Paheli", which opens June 24, has the Big B in a prominent cameo with Shah Rukh Khan. This is the first time he plays a Rajasthani character since Sunil Dutt's "Reshma Aur Shera" and K.C. Bokadia's "Aaj Ka Arjun".

At the end of July, he appears in "Dil Jo Bhi Kahey", produced and directed by the old Bachchan buddy Romesh Sharma. He plays the father of Karan Sharma - Romesh's son - while the talented Revathy stars as his other half.

But it's obviously Ram Gopal Varma's gritty epic "Sarkar", which can serve as the ideal follow-up to the magnificent and flamboyant performance in "Black". In "Sarkar", Bachchan is cast as a mass leader in Mumbai, a la Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.

The film will give the senior Bachchan a chance to do what he couldn't in "Bunty Aur Babli" - exchange histrionics with son Abhishek.

The avalanche of films doesn't daunt Bachchan. "If I remember correctly I had a series of releases during this time last year as well...like 'Lakshya', 'Dev' and 'Deewaar'. It can't be helped. And I'm certainly not apologetic about it," Bachchan told IANS.

"At this stage of my career I can afford to spread out my time over a number of films. Some films need to be done for friends' sake. Others are done for the love of the art. 'Black' and now 'Sarkar' definitely fall into the latter category."

The amazing thing about this year's Bachchan typhoon is that his three films released so far in 2005 are the year's three top grossers.

The third top film is Vipul Shah's "Waqt: Race Against Time". Though weak in Punjab, Bihar and some areas, it has done stupendous business in most centres, especially overseas. Estimated earnings so far: a whopping Rs.320 million.

At the second spot is the wacky roadrunner, Shaad Ali Sahgal's "Bunty Aur Babli". Though a part of the trade remains sceptical about the film, it has already collected Rs.265 million in India and approximately Rs.65 million overseas.

Incredibly, the top grosser of 2005 so far is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's elegiac passionate and totally unconventional "Black". A film that most pundits had predicted a bleak future for and one that its overseas distributors Yashraj Films had written off in the first week after its initial no-show in foreign countries.