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Introduction

Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician.

Early life and family

Bachchan was born in Allahabad on 11 October 1942. He was originally named as Inquilaab Srivastava. His mother, Teji Bachchan, was a social activist, and his father, Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a poet. Bachchan has a younger brother, Ajitabh.

Education

Bachchan is an alumnus of Sherwood College, Nainital. He later attended Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi.

Acting career

Bachchan made his film debut in 1969, as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen's National Award-winning film Bhuvan Shome. His first acting role was as one of the seven protagonists in the film Saat Hindustani,

Zanjeer

Zanjeer, directed by Prakash Mehta was a crime film with violent action, in sharp contrast to the romantically themed films that had generally preceded it, and it established Amitabh in a new persona—the "angry young man" of Bollywood cinema. He earned his first Filmfare Award nomination for Best Actor.

Rise in Bollywood

After working with directors and producers such as Salim-Javed, Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra, and Yash Chopra, he eventually became one of the most successful leading men of the film industry.

Abhimaan

The year 1973 was also when he married Jaya Bachan, and around this time they appeared in several films together such as Abhimaan, which was released only a month after their marriage and was also successful at the box office.

Namak Haraam

Later, Bachchan played the role of Vikram, once again along with Rajesh Khanna, in the film Namak Haraam, a social drama directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. His supporting role won him his second Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award.

Sholay

Released on 15 August 1975, Sholay became the highest-grossing film ever in India at the time, in which Bachchan played the role of Jaidev. Deewaar and Sholay are often credited with exalting Bachchan to the heights of superstardom.

1979

In 1979, Bachchan starred in Suhaag which was the highest earning film of that year. In the same year he also enjoyed critical acclaim and commercial success with films like Mr Natwarlal, Kaala Patthar, The Great Gambler and Manzil.

Until 1987

During a stint in politics from 1984 to 1987, his completed films Mard (1985) and Aakhree Raasta (1986) were released and were major hits.

Coolie injury (1982–1983)

On 26 July 1982, while filming Coolie, in the University Campus in Bangalore, Bachchan suffered a near-fatal intestinal injury during the filming of a fight scene with co-actor Puneet Issar.

Recovery

He remained critically ill in hospital for many months, at times close to death. Nevertheless, he 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 and the top-grossing film of that year.

Myasthenia sickness

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, and stating before every release, "Yeh film to flop hogi!" ("This film will flop").

Shahenshah

After a three-year stint in politics from 1984 to 1987, Bachchan returned to films in 1988, playing the title role in Shahenshah, which was a box office success. After the success of his comeback film however, his star power began to wane as all of his subsequent films like Jaadugar, Toofan and Main Azaad Hoon (all released in 1989) failed at the box office.

Agneepath

Notably, despite the lack of hits, it was during this era that Bachchan won his first National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance as a Mafia don in the 1990 cult film Agneepath. With the exception of the delayed release of Insaniyat (1994), which was also a box office failure, Bachchan did not appear in any new releases for five years.

Production

Bachchan turned producer during his temporary retirement period, setting up Amitabh Bachchan Corporation, Ltd. (ABCL) in 1996. ABCL's operations were mainstream commercial film production and distribution, audio cassettes and video discs, production and marketing of television software, and celebrity and event management.

Comeback

Bachchan attempted to revive his acting career, and eventually had commercial success with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998) and Major Saab (1998), and received positive reviews for Sooryavansham (1999), but other films such as Lal Baadshah (1999) and Hindustan Ki Kasam (1999) were box office failures.

Mohabbatein

In 2000, Amitabh Bachchan appeared in Yash Chopra's box-office hit, Mohabbatein, directed by Aditya Chopra. He played a stern, elder figure who rivalled the character of Shahrukh Khan. His role won him his third Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award.

Black

One project that did particularly well for Bachchan was Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black in 2005. The film starred Bachchan as an ageing teacher of a deaf-blind girl and followed their relationship. His performance was unanimously praised by critics and audiences and won him his second National Film Award for Best Actor.

Paa

Paa, which released at the end of 2009 was a highly anticipated project as it saw him playing his own son Abhishek's Progeria-affected 13-year-old son, and it opened to favourable reviews, particularly towards Bachchan's performance and was one of the top-grossing films of 2009. It won him his third National Film Award for Best Actor.

Kandahar

In 2010, he debuted in Malayalam film through Kandahar, directed by Major Ravi and co-starring Mohanlal. The film was based on the hijacking incident of the Indian Airlines Flight 814.

The Great Gatsby

In 2013 he made his Hollywood debut in The Great Gatsby making a special appearance opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire.

Pink

In 2016, he appeared in the women centric courtroom drama film Pink which was highly praised by critics and with an increasingly good word of mouth, was a resounding success at the domestic and overseas box office.

Brahmastra

In October 2017, it was announced that Bachchan will appear in Ayan Mukerji's Brahmastra, alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt.

Other work

In 1984, Bachchan took a break from acting and briefly entered politics. He contested Allahabad's seat for the 8th Lok Sabha and won by one of the highest victory margins in general election history. His political career, however, was short-lived: he resigned after three years.

Television appearances

In 2000, Bachchan hosted the first season of Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian adaptation of the British television game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The show was well received.

Bigg Boss

In 2009, Bachchan hosted the third season of the reality show Bigg Boss.

KBC

Bachchan hosted the fourth and the fifth seasons of KBC. The show became a massive hit with audiences and broke many TRP Records. CNN IBN awarded Indian of the Year- Entertainment to Team KBC and Bachchan. Bachchan continued to host KBC until 2017.

Voice acting

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 Bachchan's voice that he decided to use Bachchan as the narrator in his 1977 film Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players).

Few other works

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 French documentary March of the Penguins, directed by Luc Jacquet. He later provide voice over to several other movies such as Ra One, Kahaani, Krrish 3, and The Ghazi Attack.

Humanitarian causes

Bachchan has been involved with many social causes. For example, he donated 1 million rupeers to clear the debts of nearly 40 beleaguered farmers in Andhra Pradesh and ₹3 million to clear the debts of some 100 Vidarbha farmers.

UNICEF

Bachchan was made a UNICEF goodwill ambassador for the polio Eradication Campaign in India in 2002.

TeachAIDS

In 2014, it was announced that he had recorded his voice and lent his image to the Hindi and English language versions of the TeachAIDS software, an international HIV/AIDS prevention education tool developed at Stanford University.

Awards and honours

Apart from National Film Awards, Filmfare Awards, he became the first artist to receive the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, which was established in the name of Raj Kapoor. Bachchan was crowned as Superstar of the Millennium in 2000 at the Filmfare Awards.

Madame Tussauds

In June 2000, he became the first living Asian to have been modelled in wax at London's Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Another statue was installed in New York in 2009, Hong Kong in 2011, Bangkok in 2011, Washington, DC in 2012, and Delhi, in 2017.

Governmental awards

The Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri in 1984, the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015. The then-President of Afghanistan awarded him the Order of Afghanistan in 1991 following the shooting of Khuda Gawah there.

Legion of Honour

France's highest civilian honour, the Knight of the Legion of Honour, was conferred upon him by the French Government in 2007 for his "exceptional career in the world of cinema and beyond".

Olympic torch

On 27 July 2012, Bachchan carried the Olympic torch during the last leg of its relay in London's Southwark.