Just when we had begun to wonder where Amitabh Bachchan would head from the pinnacle he had reached, Sanjay Leela Bhansali provided the answer with "Black".

It's very difficult to describe the unadulterated adulation that's rightfully coming his way after "Black". It's the kind of unanimous anointment that happens to very few artistes anywhere in the world.

What kind of praise? I wouldn't even dare to venture there. Suffice it to say that as I stood with celluloid's resident god at the premiere of "Black", I could see history being made in front of my eyes. Praise poured out of every personality in the most natural tones conceivable.

No one was faking it. No one needed to. The raging passion of Bachchan's performance bolted across the screen, hitting audiences in the solar plexus and thereafter the heart.

"Oof!" said Urmila Matondkar. "Amitji just puts every leading man in the shade. What power, glory and perfection. The nuances that he brings to his character...! It's just the most glorious moment of cinema I've seen!"

I've never seen Bachchan look so content in his life. Rani Mukherjee was right when she told me, "The smile just refuses to leave Amit uncle's face."

I search the most famous face in showbiz for signs of stress. All I see is an artiste, an actor and a human being who has finally found his metier.

"It's just crazy...The reaction to 'Black' from every one is unanimous. They're all stunned. And frankly, so am I. Everyone, from Dilip Kumar saab to Shah Rukh Khan, has opened his or her heart to lavish me with the kind of praise I've never heard before," says Bachchan.

"It's so genuine...and scary. Sanjay Bhansali has put me in a monstrous dilemma. Where do I go after 'Black'? Nothing I do can match up. Nothing seems worth it..."

He sighs and gets ready to dance with his son and Aishwarya Rai. Of course he puts cent percent into the zestful dance movements.

Bachchan is a perfectionist to the core, no doubt. He doesn't agonise over his shots. He studies them with a concentration that a curator gives to the rarest of paintings.

Quite often the importance that Bachchan gives to his films is ill deserving. "'Black' came to me at just the right time," he says as I try to gauge the impact of his performance. Habitually he shies away from self-evaluation. Besides, "Black" has numbed him.

"And why just me? Everyone who has seen it feels the same way. I'll have to agree with you when you say no performance of mine has made the same impact. That's because no filmmaker is Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I tell you, he has put me in a crisis. Nothing I do will ever measure up to the standards he has set," says Bachchan.

My mind again strolls back to the historic night of the premiere where Bachchan stood looking demoniacally dapper in a black sherwani with a white churidaar. His excitement was palpable as all his guests from socialites and politicians to colleagues in the film industry trooped in.

Even Sanjay Dutt who had to be present for his own premiere of "Shabd" turned up. "Amitji is my god. And I had to be here," Sanjay said emotionally.

God is a word that is often being used for Bachchan these days. It's got to do with the calibre of performance he has given in "Black". The unanimous opinion seems to be this: screen performances have turned a corner with "Black".

Just consider the star line-up in Bollywood. At the bottom-most rung are the 22-23 year old actors like Shahid Kapoor and Sammir Dattani. Then there's the generation represented by the Khans, Ajay Devgan and Akshay Kumar, followed by the 40-plus brigade of Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol and Anil Kapoor.

Past that 40-plus bracket there is a huge yawning gap...until we come to the 63-year-old Bachchan.

No one thought "Black" would not only renew his career but also give it an entirely new look, feel and tempo.

"I don't know how it happened," says AB's favourite director Bhansali. "But I do know how precious his character Debraj Sahay was to Amitji. I know how much of himself he gave to it. He virtually breathed fire and life into every frame. Amitji holds the camera on his gaze. You can't take your eyes off him in 'Black'."

Now all eyes are set on Bachchan's career. What does 2005 hold for him? "I really can't say. I really don't know. Right now I can't see beyond 'Black'."

No one can.