Name: Amitabh Bachchan (Big B)
Birthday: 11th October, 1942
Marital
status: Married to Jaya Bhaduri;
one son, Abhishek Bachchan, and one daughter, Shweta Nanda.
Awards: Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian honour
from the Government of India. 3 National Film Awards For Best Actor; 1 National
Film Award For Best Newcomer. 5 Filmfare Best Actor Awards; 3 Filmfare Best
Supporting Actor Awards; 2 Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance;
Filmfare Superstar of the Millennium
Trivia: Amitabh Bachchan was an elected member of the Indian
Parliament from 1984 to 1987.
He suffered from a
rare muscular disorder known as myasthenia gravis.
He is the first
Asian actor to have a wax model of his likeness displayed at Madame Tussaud’s
in London, UK.
He is one of the
few actors to have played a triple role – Mahaan (1983)
Amitabh
Bachchan Biography
Amitabh Bachchan’s
trademark deep baritone voice, tall, brooding persona and intense eyes, made
him the ideal “Angry Young Man”, setting him apart from the cluster of
Bollywood’s 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 Teji Bachchan.
Bachchan was initially named Inquilaab. However, at the suggestion of fellow
poet, Harivansh Rai changed the name to Amitabh which means, “the light that
would never go off.” Though his surname was Shrivastava, he replaced it with
‘Bachchan’, which was his father’s pen name. Amitabh Bachchan studied in
Allahabad at Jnana Pramodhini and Boys High School. He completed his education
at Sherwood College in Nainital and Kirori Mal College in Delhi. His first job
was in Shaw Wallace. Amitabh later worked as a freight broker for a shipping
firm called Bird and Co., in Kolkata, a job he quit to pursue a career in
acting.
In 1969, Amitabh
made his debut with Saat Hindustani, which won him the National Film
Award for Best Newcomer. After this came movies like Reshma Aur Shera,
Parwana, and Anand in 1971. He made a huge impact with his
performance in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand alongside Rajesh Khanna,
winning him the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. His breakthrough as a
lead was in the film Zanjeer (1973) which established his persona of
the “angry young man” of Bollywood. Amitabh reworked the image of the Hindi
film hero with major hits like Deewar, Sholay, Trishul and
Don. He popularised the violent melodrama genre but had an equal flair
for tragedies (Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Shakti) and comedies (Chupke
Chupke, Amar Akbar Anthony) as well. His status as a demi-god was
evident when the entire nation prayed for his recovery when he met with a fatal
injury during the making of Coolie in July, 1982.
In 1984, Amitabh
entered politics in support of long time friend Rajiv Gandhi. He contested
Allahabad’s Lok Sabha seat and won by a huge margin. Accusations of him being
involved in the Bofors Scandal made him quit politics, although, later on, he
was proved innocent. Amitabh returned to films with blockbusters like Shahenshah,
Agneepath, Hum and Khuda Gawah. A series of flops in mid 90’s and
the collapse of his company, Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd. landed him in
immense debts. He returned back to movies but with no success.
In the year 2000,
he stepped up to host the television show Kaun Banega Crorepati and
later was seen in Mohabbatein along with Shah Rukh Khan. Both these
ventures proved extremely successful. Since then Amitabh has been on a roll. At
sixty plus, with all the endorsements and accolades, he is a greater icon than
he was at the height of his popularity three decades ago.
In recent past we
have seen Amitabh doing vastly different roles in fims like Sarkar Raj,
The Last Lear, Paa, Teen Patti and Bbuddah Hoga
Terra Baap.
He starred in
Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan in 2011, but the film failed to do well at the box
office though Big B’s role was widely appreciated. His other releases –
Ram Gopal Varma’s Department and Zamaanat also failed to do well at the box
office.
He did an item
song in the Bol Bachchan and a guest appearance in English Vinglish. He was
seen in the Hollywood drama film The Great Gatsby, based on F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel which released on May 10, 2013. It is Big B’s first
Hollywood film.
He played the
role of a firm believer in Satyagraha- a political drama film directed by
Prakash Jha. Later, he gave a voice over to Bhishma’s character in the
animated movie Mahabharat and also starred in Bhoothnath Returns.
The
Shahenshah of Bollywood will be seen in Shamitabh, Piku that are
scheduled to release in 2015.
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