3 Health3.1 2005 Hospitalisation4 Voice5 Controversies and Criticism5.1 Barabanki Land Case5.2 Raj Thackeray's criticism6 Awards, honours and recognitions7 Filmography7.1 Latest films7.2 Producer7.3 Playback singer8 References9 External linksEarly life
Born in
Allahabad,
Uttar Pradesh, Amitabh Bachchan hails from a
Hindu Kayastha family. His father, Dr.
Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a well-known
Hindi poet, while his mother, Teji Bachchan was a
Sikh from
Faisalabad (now in
Pakistan).
[1] Bachchan was initially named Inquilab, inspired from the phrase
Inquilab Zindabad, during the Indian independence struggle, but was re-christened Amitabh which means, "the light that would never go off." Though his surname was
Srivastava, his father had adopted the pen-name Bachchan, under which he published all his works. It is with this last name that Amitabh debuted in films, and, for all public purposes, it has become the surname of all members of his current family.
Amitabh is the elder of Harivansh Rai Bachchan's two sons, the second being Ajitabh. His mother had a keen interest in theatre and had been offered a role in a film, but preferred her domestic duties. She had some degree of influence in Bachchan's choice of career because she always insisted that he should take the centre stage.
[2] Bachchan's father passed away on January 18, 2003, and his mother on December 21, 2007.
[3]Bachchan has a double M.A. (
Master of Arts) degree. He attended
Allahabad's
Jnana Prabodhini and
Boys' High School (BHS), followed by
Nainital's
Sherwood College, where he majored in the art stream. He later went on to study at
Kirori Mal College of the
University of Delhi and completed a
Bachelor of Science degree. In his twenties, Bachchan gave up a job as freight broker for the shipping firm, Bird and Co., based in
Calcutta, to pursue a career in acting.
He married actress
Jaya Bhaduri on June 3, 1973, according to
Bengali rites. The couple has two children: daughter
Shweta and son
Abhishek.
CareerEarly work 1969-1972
Amitabh Bachchan in
Anand (1970)
Bachchan made his film debut in 1969 as one of the seven protagonists in
Saat Hindustani, a film directed by
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and featuring
Utpal Dutt,
Madhu and
Jalal Agha. Though the film was not a financial success, Bachchan won his first
National Film Award for Best Newcomer.
[4]The critically acclaimed and commercially successful.
Anand (1971) followed, where he starred alongside
Rajesh Khanna. Bachchan's role as a doctor with a cynical view of life garned him a
Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. Amitabh then played the role of an infatuated lover in
Parwaana (1971) opposite
Navin Nischol,
Yogeeta Bali and
Om Prakash and was a rare instance of him portraying the villain. This was followed by several films which were not particularly successful at the box office including
Reshma Aur Shera (1971). During this time, he made a guest appearance in the film
Guddi which starred his future wife
Jaya Bhaduri opposite
Dharmendra. Noted for his deep baritone voice early on in his career, he narrated part of the film
Bawarchi. In 1972, he made an appearance in the road action comedy
Bombay to Goa, directed by
S. Ramanathan. He starred alongside actors such as
Aruna Irani,
Mehmood,
Anwar Ali and
Nasir Hussain.
Rise to Stardom 1973-19831973 saw significant development in Bachchan's career when director
Prakash Mehra cast him in the leading role for the film
Zanjeer (1973) as Inspector Vijay Khanna. The film was a sharp contrast to the romantically themed films that had generally preceded it and established Amitabh in a new persona — the "angry young man" action hero of Bollywood, a reputation he was to acquire in pictures that followed it. It was his first film as the leading protagonist to achieve box office success and earned him a Filmfare Nomination for Best Actor. 1973 was also the year he married Jaya and around this time they appeared in several films together, not only in Zanjeer but in films such as
Abhimaan which followed and was released only a month after their marriage. Later, Bachchan played the role of Vikram in the film
Namak Haraam, a social drama directed by
Hrishikesh Mukherjee and scripted by Biresh Chatterjee addressing themes of friendship. His supporting role opposite
Rajesh Khanna and
Rekha was praised and won him the
Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award.
In 1974, Bachchan made several guest appearances in films such as
Kunwara Baap and
Dost, before playing a supporting role in the highest grossing film of that year,
Roti Kapda Aur Makaan. The film, directed and written by
Manoj Kumar, addressed themes of honesty in the face of oppression and financial and emotional hardship was a critical and commercial success, placing Amitabh opposite Kumar himself,
Shashi Kapoor and
Zeenat Aman. Bachchan then played the leading role in film
Majboor, released on December 6, 1974, which was a remake of the
Hollywood film Zigzag starring
George Kennedy. The film was only a moderate success at the box office
[5] In 1975, he starred in a variety of film genres from the comedy
Chupke Chupke, the crime drama
Faraar to the romantic drama
Mili. However 1975 was the year when he appeared in two films which are regarded as important in Hindi cinematic history. He starred in the
Yash Chopra directed film
Deewar, opposite
Shashi Kapoor,
Nirupa Roy, and
Neetu Singh, which earned him a Filmfare Nomination for Best Actor. The film became a major hit at the box office in 1975, ranking in at number 4.
[6] Indiatimes Movies ranks Deewaar amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.
[7] Released on August 15, 1975 was
Sholay (meaning flames), which became the highest grossing film of all time in India, earning
Rs. 2,36,45,00,000 equivalent to US$ 60 million, after adjusting for
inflation.
[8] Bachchan played the role of Jaidev opposite a cast which included some of the top names in the industry including
Dharmendra,
Hema Malini,
Sanjeev Kumar,
Jaya Bhaduri and
Amjad Khan. In 1999,
BBC India declared it the "Film of the Millennium" and like Deewar, has been cited by
Indiatimes movies as amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.
[7] In that same year, the judges of the 50th annual
Filmfare awards awarded it with the special distinction award called
Filmfare Best Film of 50 Years.
Bachchan in the 1970s
After the success of films such as Sholay at the box office, Bachchan had now consolidated his position in the industry and from 1976 through to 1984 would receive an unprecedented number of
Filmfare Best Actor Award Awards and nominations. Although films such as Sholay cemented his status as Bollywood's pre-eminent action hero, Bachchan illustrated that he was flexible in other roles, successfully playing the romantic lead, in films such as
Kabhie Kabhie (1976) and comic timing in comedies such as
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) and earlier, in
Chupke Chupke (1975). In 1976, he was once again cast by director
Yash Chopra in his second film, Kabhi Kabhie, a romantic tale in which Bachchan starred as a young poet named Amit Malhotra who falls deeply in love with a beautiful young girl named Pooja played by actress
Rakhee Gulzar. The emotional eclectic of the dialogue and softness of the subject matter proved a direct contrast to some of Amitabh's earlier grittier action pictures and those he would later go on to play. The film saw him again nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award and was a box office success. In 1977, he won the Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Amar Akbar Anthony where he played the third lead opposite
Vinod Khanna and
Rishi Kapoor as Anthony Gonsalves. 1978 was possibly the most accoladed year of his career and he starred in all four of the highest grossing films of India in that year.
[9] He once again resumed double roles in films such as
Kasme Vaade as Amit and Shankar and
Don playing the characters of Don, a leader of an underworld gang and his look alike Vijay. His performance won him the Filmfare Best Actor Award and considerable critical acclaim as with his performances in
Trishul and
Muqaddar Ka Sikander which both earned him further Filmfare Best Actor nominations. On account of this unprecedented run and success he encountered at this stage in his career, he was billed a "one-man industry" by the French director
François Truffaut.
[10]In 1979, for the first time, Amitabh was required to use his singing voice for the film
Mr. Natwarlal in which he starred alongside
Rekha. His performance in the film saw him nominated for both the Filmfare Best Actor Award and the
Filmfare Best Male Playback Awards. In 1979, he also received Best Actor nomination for
Kaala Patthar (1979) and then went on to be nominated again in 1980 for the
Raj Khosla directed film
Dostana, in which he starred opposite
Shatrughan Sinha and
Zeenat Aman. Dostana proved to be the top grossing film of 1980.
[11] In 1981, he starred in Yash Chopra's melodrama film
Silsila, where he starred alongside his wife Jaya and rumoured lover
Rekha. Other films of this period include
Ram Balram (1980),
Shaan (1980),
Lawaaris (1981), and
Shakti (1982) which pitted him against legendary actor
Dilip Kumar.
[12]Rekha with Amitabh Bachchan in
Silsila in 1981
1982 injury during filming Coolie
While filming
Coolie in 1982, Bachchan suffered a nearly fatal intestinal injury during the filming of a fight scene with co-actor
Puneet Issar.
[13] Bachchan was performing his own stunts in the film and one scene required him to fall onto a table and then on the ground. However as he jumped towards the table, the corner of the table struck his abdomen, resulting in a splenic
rupture from which he lost a significant amount of blood. He required an emergency splenectomy and remained critically ill in hospital for many months, at times close to death. The public response included prayers in temples and offers to sacrifice limbs to save him, while later, there were long queues of well-wishing fans outside the hospital where he was recuperating.
[14] Nevertheless, he spent many months recovering and resumed filming later that year after a long period of recuperation. The film was released in 1983, and partly due to the huge publicity of Bachchan's accident, the film was a box office success.
[15]The director,
Manmohan Desai, altered the ending of
Coolie after Bachchan's accident. Bachchan's character was originally intended to have been killed off but after the change of script, the character lived in the end. It would have been inappropriate, said Desai, for the man who had just fended off death in real life to be killed on screen. Also, in the released film the footage of the fight scene is frozen at the critical moment, and a caption appears onscreen marking this as the instant of the actor's injury and the ensuing publicity of the accident.
[14]Later, he was diagnosed with
Myasthenia gravis. His illness made him feel weak both mentally and physically and he decided to quit films and venture into politics. At this time he became pessimistic, expressing concern with how a new film would be received. Before every release he would negatively state, "Yeh film to flop hogi!" ("This film will flop").
[16]Politics: 1984-1987
In 1984, Amitabh took a break from acting and briefly entered politics in support of long-time family friend,
Rajiv Gandhi. He contested Allahabad's
Lok Sabha seat against
H. N. Bahuguna, former
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and won by the highest victory margin in
general election history (68.2% of the vote).
[17] His political career, however, was short-lived: He resigned after three years. The resignation followed the implication of Bachchan and his brother in the "
Bofors scandal" by a newspaper, which he vowed to take to court.
[18] Bachchan was eventually found not guilty of involvement in the ordeal.
His old friend,
Amar Singh, helped him during a financial crisis due to the failure of his company ABCL. Therefore Bachchan started to support Amar Singh's political party, the Samajwadi party. Jaya Bachchan joined the
Samajwadi Party and became a
Rajya Sabha member.
[19] Bachchan has continued to do favors for the Samajwadi party, including advertisements and political campaigns. These activities have recently gotten him into trouble again in the Indian courts for false claims after a previous incident of submission of legal papers by him, stating that he is a farmer.
[20]A 15 year press ban against Bachchan was imposed during his peak acting years by
Stardust and some of the other film magazines. In his own defense, Bachchan claimed to have banned the press from entering his sets almost till the end of 1989.
[21] It has been said that Bachchan had banned certain publications because he disliked what was being published about him and as such he vetoed them in an attempt to get them to conform this.
Slump and retirement: 1988-1992
In 1988, Bachchan returned to films, playing the title role in
Shahenshah, which was a box office success due to the hype of Bachchan's comeback.
[22] After the success of his comeback film however, his star power began to wane as all of his subsequent films failed at the box office. The 1991 hit film,
Hum, looked like it might reverse this trend, but the momentum was short-lived as his string of box office failures continued. Notably, despite the lack of hits, it was during this period that Bachchan won his second
National Film Award, for his performance as a Mafia don in the 1990 film
Agneepath. These years would be the last he would be seen on screen for some time. After the release of
Khuda Gawah in 1992, Bachchan went into semi-retirement for five years. In 1994, one of his delayed films
Insaniyat was released but was also a box office failure.
[23]Producer and acting comeback 1996-1999
Bachchan turned producer during his temporary retirement period, setting up Amitabh Bachchan Corporation, Ltd. (A.B.C.L.) in 1996, with the vision of becoming a 10 billion rupees (approx 250 million $US) premier entertainment company by the year 2000. ABCL's strategy was to introduce products and services covering the entire section of the India's entertainment industry. Its operations were mainstream commercial film production and distribution, audio cassettes and video discs, production and marketing of television software, celebrity and event management. Soon after the company was launched in 1996, the first film was produced by the company.
Tere Mere Sapne failed to do well at the box office but launched the careers of actors such as
Arshad Warsi and South films star
Simran. ABCL produced a few other films, none of which did well.
In 1997, Bachchan attempted to make his acting comeback with the film
Mrityudaata, produced by ABCL. Though Mrityudaata attempted to reprise Bachchan's earlier success as an action hero, the film was a failure both financially and critically. ABCL was the main sponsor of the
The 1996 Miss World beauty pageant,
Bangalore but lost millions. The fiasco and the consequent legal battles surrounding ABCL and various entities after the event, coupled with the fact that ABCL was reported to have overpaid most of its top level managers, eventually led to its financial and operational collapse in 1997. The company went into administration and was later declared a failed company by Indian Industries board. The Bombay high court, in April 1999, restrained Bachchan from selling off his Bombay
bungalow 'Prateeksha' and two flats till the pending loan recovery cases of
Canara Bank were disposed of. Bachchan had, however, pleaded that he had mortgaged his bungalow to Sahara India Finance for raising funds for his company.
[24]Bachchan attempted to revive his acting career and had average success with
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998),
[23] and received positive reviews for
Sooryavansham (1999)
[25] but other films such as
Lal Baadshah (1999) and
Hindustan Ki Kasam (1999) were box office failures.
Television careerIn the year 2000, Bachchan stepped up to host India's adaptation of the British television game show,
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? entitled,
Kaun Banega Crorepati. As it did in most other countries where it was adopted, the program found immediate success. The
Canara Bank withdrew its law suit against Bachchan in November 2000. Bachchan hosted KBC till November 2005, and its success set the stage for his return to film popularity.
Return to prominence: 2000-present
In 2000, Amitabh Bachchan appeared in
Yash Chopra's box-office hit,
Mohabbatein, directed by
Aditya Chopra. He played a stern, older figure that rivalled the character of
Shahrukh Khan. Other hits followed, with Bachchan appearing as an older family patriarch in
Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love (2001),
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) and
Baghban (2003). As an actor, he
continued to perform in a range of characters, receiving critical praise for his performances in
Aks (2001),
Aankhen (2002),
Khakee (2004),
Dev (2004) and
Black (2005). Taking advantage of this resurgence, Amitabh began endorsing a variety of products and services, appearing in many television and billboard advertisements. In 2005 and 2006, he starred with his son Abhishek in the hit films
Bunty Aur Babli (2005), the
Godfather tribute
Sarkar (2005), and
Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (2006). All of them were successful at the box office.
[26][27] His later releases in 2006 and early 2007 were
Baabul (2006),
[28] Eklavya and
Nishabd (2007), which failed to do well at the box office but his performances in each of them were praised by critics.
[29] He also made a guest-appearance as himself in the Kannada movie Amruthadaare, directed by
Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar.
Pratibha Devisingh Patil presenting the Best Film Actor Award for the year 2005 to Amitabh Bachchan for his role in the Hindi film
Black.
In May 2007, two of his films
Cheeni Kum and the multi-starrer
Shootout at Lokhandwala were released. Shootout at Lokhandwala did very well at the box office and was declared a hit in India, while Cheeni Kum picked up after a slow start and was declared an overall average hit.
[30]In August 2007, a
remake of his biggest hit,
Sholay (1975), entitled
Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, proved to be a disaster at the box office
[30] and was also poorly received by critics.
His first English language film,
Rituparno Ghosh's
The Last Lear, premiered at the
2007 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2007. He received positive reviews from critics who hailed his performance as his best ever since Black.
[31] Bachchan was slated to play a supporting role in his first international film,
Shantaram, directed by
Mira Nair and starring
Hollywood actor
Johnny Depp in the lead. The film was due to begin filming in February 2008 but due to the writer's strike, was pushed to September 2008
[32]Bhoothnath, in which he plays the title role as a
ghost, was released on May 9, 2008.
Sarkar Raj, released in June 2008, was a sequel to his 2005 film
Sarkar. Sarkar Raj received a positive response at the box-office.
Bachchan was scheduled to co-host the second
Live Earth event,
Live Earth India 2008, with
Jon Bon Jovi, in
Mumbai India on December 8, 2008.
Health
2005 Hospitalisation
In November 2005, Amitabh Bachchan was admitted to Lilavati Hospital's
ICU once more, to undergo surgery for
diverticulitis of the
small intestine.
[33] This occurred after Bachchan complained of pains in his abdomen some days prior. During the period and that following his recovery, most of his projects were put on hold, including the television show he was in the process of hosting,
Kaun Banega Crorepati. Amitabh returned to work in March 2006.
[34]VoiceBachchan is known for his deep, baritone voice. He has been a narrator, a
playback singer and presenter for numerous programmes. Renowned film director
Satyajit Ray was so impressed with Bachchan's voice, that he decided to use his voice as commentary in
Shatranj Ke Khiladi since he could not find a suitable role for him.
[35] Before entering the film industry, Bachchan applied for an announcer's job with
All India Radio, although he was rejected.
Controversies and Criticism
Barabanki Land Case
In the runup to the
Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections, 2007, Bachchan made a film extolling the virtues of the
Mulayam Singh government. His
Samajwadi Party was routed, and
Mayawati came to power.
On June 2, 2007] a
Faizabad court ruled that he had illegally acquired agricultural land designated specifically for landless
Dalit farmers.
[36] It was speculated that he might investigated on related charges of forgery, as he has allegedly claimed he was a farmer.
[37] On July 19, 2007, after the scandal broke out, Bachchan surrendered the land acquired in Barabanki in
Uttar Pradesh and
Pune. He wrote to the chief minister of
Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, to donate the lands that were allegedly acquired illegally in Pune.
[38] However, the Lucknow Court has put a stay on the land donation and said that the status quo on the land be maintained.
On October 12, 2007, Bachchan abandoned his claim in respect of the land at Daulatpur village in Barabanki district.
[39] On December 11, 2007, the
Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court gave a clean chit to Bachchan in a case pertaining to alleged fraudulent allotment of government land to him in Barabanki district. A single Lucknow bench of Justice said there was no finding that the actor "himself committed any fraud or manipulated any surreptitious entry in the revenue records".
[40][41]After receiving a positive verdict in Barabanki case, Amitabh Bachchan intimated to Maharashtra government that he did not wish to surrender his land in Maval tehsil of Pune district.
[42] 
