Amitabh Bachan

1. Amitabh Bachchans trademark deep baritone voice, tall, brooding persona and intense eyes, made him the ideal Angry Young Man, setting him apart from the cluster of Bollywoods lover boys. However, his unconventional looks did work against him at the beginning of his Bollywood career, but he stayed around long enough to be become the icon of the Indian film industry.Amitabh Bachchan was born in Allahabad in 1942, to Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan and T .....

Early career 1969 1972

2. Amitabh Bachchan made his film debut in 1969 as one of the seven protagonists in Saat Hindustani. The movie was not a financial success, but Bachchan won his first National Film Award. This was followed by hit film Bombay to Goa.Comedian Actor Mehmood is responsible for his first commercial break in this film.The critically acclaimed and commercially successful Anand (1970) followed, where he starred alongside the reigning superstar of the indust .....

Stardom 1973 1983

3. Bachchans first major box office success came when director Prakash Mehra cast him in the leading role for his film, Zanjeer. The movie was a sharp contrast to the romantic themed ones that had generally preceded it, and established Amitabh in a new persona the angry young man action hero of Bollywood. The next decade catapulted him to the pinnacle of Bollywood superstardom. He churned out at least one major hit every year, including Deewaar (19 .....

Political career 1984 1987

4. In 1984, Amitabh briefly entered politics in support of long time family friend, Rajiv Gandhi. He contested Allahabads Parliament seat against H. N. Bahuguna, a well known politician, and won his MP candidacy by the highest victory margin ever for a parliamentary candidate in Indian history (68.2% of the vote).His political career, however, was short lived He resigned after three years, leaving his term incomplete. The resignation followed Bachch .....

Career slump 1988 1999

5. In 1988, Bachchan returned to films with Shahenshah, which was a box office success due to the hype of Bachchans comeback. 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 .....

Amitabh Bachchans return as a superstar on KBC

6. The 15 year press ban Very few are aware of the ban on Bachchan a ban that shook the film industry by its roots. Stardust and all the film magazines got together to form an association and banned Bachchan for 15 years during his peak. They decided not to print anything about Bachchan, in any of their publications. In response, Amitabh said that he had banned the press from entering his sets almost till the end of 1989. However, he had nothing pe .....

Television career

7. In the year 2000, Bachchan stepped up to host Indias adaptation of the British television game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire entitled, Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). As it did in most other countries where it was adopted, the program found immediate and profound success, in no small part due to Bachchans charisma. It is believed that Bachchan charged a whopping Rs 25 lakhs (2.5 million Indian Rupees, approximately US$60,000 ) per weekly episo .....

Health

8. While filming Coolie in 1982, Bachchan was seriously injured during the filming of a fight scene with co star Puneet Issar. He was in the hospital with a ruptured intestine for months, and at times was close to death. A remarkable outpouring of support and concern by his fans and the nation in general followed. After recovering, Bachchan resumed shooting for Coolie, and it finally released as a huge success owing to its pre release publicity.The .....

Bollywoods Angry Young Man

9. Amitabhs rise to fame came during a period of growing disillusionment with and distrust of authority, due, in part, to political corruption that was becoming more and more commonplace as well as a breakdown of the legal system. With his intensely brooding appearance, his role in Zanjeer as a police officer who takes the law into his own hands to avenge the murder of his parents positioned him as Bollywoods angry young man, and he became the face .....

Power in Restraint

10. Beyond the social, political and economic factors that led to the success of such films, one must also not forget Bachchans presence and performance, both of which are key factors to his becoming a symbol of the changing times. Theres a restraint to his delivery and sense of timing, and his anger relies more on physical gestures than on exaggerated histrionics. Much has been written on his use body language, and hes considered one of the first Bo .....

From Big Screen to Little and Back Again

11. Bachchans streak continued until the early 90s, when he retired from films after a series of critical and financial flops. In 2000 he became the host of Kaun Banega Crorepati, Indias version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, which (as in other countries) was a phenomenal success. This led him back to the cinema, but with his white beard and dark hair he began playing age appropriate roles, often appearing as the loving patriarch. He has been immo .....

Voice

12. Bachchan 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 Bachchans voice that he decided to use Bachchan as the narrator in his 1977 film Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players).Bachchan lent his voice as a narrator to the 2001 movie Lagaan which was a super hit. In 2005, Bachchan lent his voice to the Oscar winning Fr .....

Business

13. In 1982, Bachchan had a serious accident while filming. Fans prayed for his recovery. Bachchan survived the accident, but it prompted him to change career paths. In 1984, he traded his Bollywood stardom for a seat in the Indian Parliament. His political aspirations proved to be short lived; in 1987, he left his seat due to unexpected controversy.By the 1990s, the limelight surrounding Bachchan had begun to fade. But his decision to start his own .....

Back to Acting

14. Bachchan followed his true calling and returned to the silver screen in 1997 with the film Mrityudaata, produced by ABCL. In 2000, he also started hosting the Indian version of the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Despite a few box office failures in the 1990s, in the 2000s, Bachchan climbed his way back up to stardom as a film actor, earning additional Filmfare and International Film Award nominations for his work on films li .....

Big come back

15. Kaun Banega Crorepati is said to be the saving grace in Amitabh Bachchans career. At a time when he was in huge debt and forgotten by the industry, KBCs offering in 2000 came as a blessing As KBCs host, he was an instant hit with masses It reinstated his position and career and went on to recreate the phenomena called Amitabh Bachchan. .....

The best host on TV

16. His debut with Kaun Banega Crorepati as TV host brought him back to prominence. Now in its 6th season, no host has been as popular or loved by audiences as much as AB senior. .....

Professional

17. Come hail or storm, Amitabh Bachchan lives up to his commitments. Out of the many incidents, the particular one that comes to mind is during the shooting of the film Sharaabi where Amitabh Bachchan burnt his hands. But being the professional he is, he continued to shoot by putting his hand in his coat pocket which went on to become a fashion statement in itself. .....

Fighter

18. During the shooting of Coolie in 1982, he had a near fatal accident while shooting a fight sequence with co star Puneet Issar. He condition was termed critical and he spent many months in hospital. He was even close to death but chose to fight and with the well wishes of family and close friends, he bounced back to life. This was christened as his re birth. .....

Beyond regionalism

19. Amitabh Bachchan is promoting tourism for three states in India including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala. This goes on to prove that the lad from Allahabad does not differentiate between different states and cultures. This is a sign of a genuine leader. .....

Social responsibility

20. Amitabh Bachchan has always been a conscientious citizen and his support for UNICEF s Pulse Polio campaign had a huge impact on the country, eradicating polio to a large extent in India. He was also the face of Save Our Tigers campaign that promoted the importance of tiger conservation in India. As the host of Kaun Banega Crorepati, hes promoted different themes through the seasons including the latest, Sirf gyan hi aapko aapka haq dilata hai. Al .....

Generous

21. It is a known fact that Big B worked for free for friend Shashi Kapoors directorial debut, Ajooba. Rohit Shetty had also said in an interview that Big B had really helped him when his father had passed away. It was his friendship with Rajiv Gandhi that prompted him to run for a seat in the Congress from his hometown. Even in KBC, as a host, he is always worried about contestants choosing the wrong answer and always asks them to re think before lo .....

Dialogue delivery

22. Amitabhs dialogue delivery renders audiences speechless. From Rishtey mein to hum tumhare Baap lagte hain, Naam hai Shahenshah to Don ka intezaar to 11 mulko ki police kar rahi hai, par don ko pakadna muskil hi nahi namumkin hai dialogues form the USPs of his films. .....

Humility

23. As the Shahenshah of Bollywood who has been in the film industry for four decades, Big B is as humble as one can be. Whether its with his co stars, junior actors, newcomers, audiences and fans, he greets all of them equally He has also taken the ups and downs of life with grace and challenged them, and never let success or failure change him as a person. .....

Superstar

24. After Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan was the second superstar of the country. But with the sad demise of Kaka (Rajesh Khanna), Big B recently Tweeted, The word superstar was invented for him, and for me it shall ever remain his and no others. We appreciate the humility. .....

His chemistry with Rekha

25. His onscreen chemistry with co actor Rekha sparked of many rumours that went on to link the two together. Big B was married to Jaya Bachchan then and the iconic film Silsila is said to be inspired by this love triangle. Rekha and Amitabh were seen together in films like Do Anjaane, Silsila, Suhaag, Muqaddar ka Sikandar and Mr. Natwarlal. Till date, the camera pans on Amitabh and Rekha at all award functions. .....

International superstar

26. Frances highest civilian honour, the Knight of the Legion of Honour was conferred on him in 2007. He was also voted as the greatest star of stage or screen in a BBC Your Millennium online poll in 1999. It was in the same year that Big B was voted for the Actor of the Century award at the Alexandria International Film Festival in Egypt in recognition of his contribution to the world of cinema. He also won the Lifetime Achievement Award at Asian Fi .....

Awe inspiring energy

27. Its amazing the amount of work that Mr. Bachchan can do with multiple shoots, endorsements and various other commitments. Actor Ajay Devgn claims that it was Big Bs energy that motivated him to shoot even when he was unwell. I was unwell and we started shooting for Bol Bachchan song with Mr. Bachchan. When I reached the sets, I had no energy to shoot but I saw Mr. Bachchan being energetic on the sets even though he was not in the pink of health. .....