Amitabh Bachchan (Amitabh Shrivastav;11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician, who works in Hindi cinema. In a film career spanning over five decades, he has starred in more than 200 films. Bachchan is widely regarded as one of the most successful and influential actors in the history of Indian cinema.He is referred to as the Shahenshah of Bollywood, Sadi Ke Mahanayak (Hindi for, “Greatest actor of the century”), Star of the Millennium, or Big B. His dominance in the Indian movie scenario during the 1970s–80s made the French director François Truffaut call it a “one-man industry”.
Bachchan was born in 1942 in Allahabad (now Prayagraj) to the Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and his wife, the social activist Teji Bachchan. He was educated at Sherwood College, Nainital, and Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. His film career started in 1969 as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen’s film Bhuvan Shome. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s for films such as Anand, Zanjeer, Roti Kapada Aur Makaan, Deewaar and Sholay, and achieved greater stardom in later years, dubbed India’s “angry young man” for several of his on-screen roles in Hindi films. He consistently starred in top grossing Indian films with critical acclaim since mid 1970s to 80s, such as Amar Akbar Anthony, Don, Trishul, Muqaddar Ka Sikander, Suhaag, Dostana, Kaalia, Laawaris, Naseeb, Namak Halaal, Coolie, Sharaabi and Mard, as well as some of his most acclaimed performances include Namak Haraam, Abhimaan, Majboor, Mili, Chupke Chupke, Kabhi Kabhie, Kaala Patthar, Shaan, Silsila, Shakti, Shahenshah and Agneepath. After taking break from acting in 1990s, his resurgence marked in 2000 with Mohabbatein. Since then he starred in several successful and acclaimed films such as Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Aankhen, Baghban, Veer-Zaara Black, Bunty Aur Babli, Sarkar, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Cheeni Kum, Paa, Piku, Pink and Badla. For Piku, he won his fourth National Film Award for Best Actor, making him the only actor to do so. Bachchan also made an appearance in a Hollywood film, The Great Gatsby (2013), in which he played a non-Indian Jewish character.
He has won numerous accolades in his career, including record four National Film Awards in Best Actor category and many awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies. He has won sixteen Filmfare Awards and is the most nominated performer in any major acting category at Filmfare with 34 nominations in Best Actor and 42 nominations overall. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1984, the Padma Bhushan in 2001, the Padma Vibhushan in 2015 and India’s highest award in the field of cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2018 for his contributions to the arts. The Government of France honoured him with its highest civilian honour, Knight of the Legion of honour, in 2007 for his exceptional career in the world of cinema and beyond.
In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a playback singer, film producer and television presenter. He has hosted several seasons of the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati, India’s version of the game show franchise, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. He also entered politics for a time in the 1980s. Bachchan has also been involved in several humanitarian works and he is a leading brand endorser in India. Beyond the Indian subcontinent, he acquired a large overseas following of the South Asian diaspora, as well as others, in markets including Africa (South Africa, Eastern Africa and Mauritius), the Middle East (especially UAE and Egypt), the United Kingdom, Russia, Central Asia, the Caribbean (Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago), Oceania (Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand), Canada and the United States. Bachchan was voted the “greatest star of stage or screen” by BBC Your Millennium online poll in 1999. In October 2003, TIME magazine dubbed Bachchan the “Star of the Millennium”.
Early life and family
Further information: Bachchan family
Bachchan was born on 11 October 1942 in Allahabad (now Prayagraj) to the Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and social activist Teji Bachchan. Harivansh Rai Bachchan was an Awadhi Hindu Kayastha, who was fluent in Awadhi, Hindi and Urdu. Harivansh’s ancestors came from a village called Babupatti, in the Raniganj tehsil, in the Pratapgarh district, in the present-day state of Uttar Pradesh, in India. Teji Bachchan was a Punjabi Sikh Khatri from Lyallpur, Punjab, British India (present-day Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan). Bachchan has a younger brother, Ajitabh who is 5 years younger than him.
Bachchan’s parents were initially going to name him Inquilaab (Hindustani for “Revolution”), inspired by the phrase Inquilab Zindabad (which translates into English as “Long live the revolution”) popularly used during the Indian independence struggle; the name Amitabh was suggested to his father by poet Sumitranandan Pant. Although his surname was Shrivastava, Amitabh’s father, who opposed the caste system, had adopted the pen name Bachchan (“child-like” in colloquial Hindi), under which he published all of his works. When his father was looking to get him admitted to a school, he and Bachchan’s mother decided the family’s name should be Bachchan instead of Shrivastava. It is with this last name that Amitabh debuted in films and used for all other practical purposes, Bachchan has become the surname for all of his immediate family.Bachchan’s father died in 2003, and his mother in 2007.
Bachchan’s secondary education was at Boys’ High School & College in Allahabad and Sherwood College in Nainital. He attended Kirori Mal College at the University of Delhi in Delhi. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Kirori Mal College in 1962. When Bachchan finished his studies his father approached Prithviraj Kapoor, the founder of Prithvi Theatre and patriarch of the Kapoor acting family, to see if there was an opening for him, but Kapoor offered no encouragement. Bachchan was a friend of Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi, before he became an actor. He used to spend time with them when he was a resident in New Delhi. Bachchan’s family were very close to the Nehru-Gandhi family of politicians. When Sonia Gandhi first came to India from Italy before her marriage, Bachchan had received her at the Palam International Airport on 13 January 1968. She spent 48 days at Bachchan’s house with his parents before her marriage to Rajiv.
Bachchan applied for a role as a newsreader for All India Radio, Delhi but “failed the audition”. He became a business executive for Bird & Company in Kolkata (Calcutta),and worked in the theatre before starting his film career. It is thought that his mother might have had some influence in Amitabh Bachchan’s choice of career because she always insisted that he should “take centre stage”.
Humanitarian and social causes
Bachchan has been involved with many social causes. For example, he donated ₹1.1 million to clear the debts of nearly 40 beleaguered farmers in Andhra Pradesh and ₹3 million to clear the debts of some 100 Vidarbha farmers. In 2010, he donated ₹1.1 million to Resul Pookutty’s foundation for a medical centre at Kochi, and he has given ₹250,000 ($4,678) to the family of Delhi policeman Subhash Chand Tomar who died after succumbing to injuries during a protest against gang-rape after the 2012 Delhi gang rape case. He founded the Harivansh Rai Bachchan Memorial Trust, named after his father, in 2013. This trust, in association with Urja Foundation, will be powering 3,000 homes in India with electricity through solar energy.In June 2019 he cleared debts of 2100 farmers from Bihar.
Bachchan was made a UNICEF goodwill ambassador for the polio Eradication Campaign in India in 2002. In 2013, he and his family donated ₹2.5 million ($42,664) to a charitable trust, Plan India, that works for the betterment of young girls in India. He also donated ₹1.1 million ($18,772) to the Maharashtra Police Welfare Fund in 2013.
Bachchan was the face of the ‘Save Our Tigers’ campaign that promoted the importance of tiger conservation in India. He supported the campaign by PETA in India to free Sunder, a 14-year-old elephant who was chained and tortured in a temple in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
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. He has been a vocal “brand ambassador” of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and featured in a few advertisements to promote the campaign.
In 2020, Bachchan was helping the Government of India promote its public health message concerning COVID-19 before he and some members of his family themselves became infected. He was hospitalised with reported mild symptoms of the disease on 11 July. He was discharged from hospital on 2 August.[182] During the pandemic he lent his support by donating Oxygen concentrators and 25 cr rupees in various forms.
Voice-acting
Bachchan is known for his deep, baritone voice. He has been a narrator, a playback singer, and presenter for numerous programmes. Some prominent films featuring his narration are Satyajit Ray’s 1977 film Shatranj Ke Khiladi. and Ashutosh Gowarikar’s 2001 film Lagaan.
He also has done voice-over work for the following movies:
Bhuvan Shome (1969)
Bawarchi (1972)
Balika Badhu (1975)
Tere Mere Sapne (1996)
Hello Brother (1999)
Lagaan (2001)
Fun2shh… Dudes in the 10th Century (2003)
Parineeta (2005)
March of the Penguins (2005), Indian version
Jodhaa Akbar (2008)
Swami (2007)
Zor Lagaa Ke…Haiya! (2009)
Ra.One (2011)
Kahaani (2012)
Krrish 3 (2013)
Mahabharat (2013)
Kochadaiiyaan (Hindi Version) (2014)
CBI documentary (2014) – sanctioned by Central Bureau of Investigation
The Ghazi Attack (2017)
Firangi (2017)
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