Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan was born 11 October 1942 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 Severals books have been written about Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan: the Legend was published in 1999, To be or not to be: Amitabh Bachchan in 2004, AB: The Legend: (A Photographer's Tribute) in 2006  , Amitabh Bachchan: Ek Jeevit Kimvadanti in 2006, Amitabh: The Making of a Superstar in 2006, Looking for the Big B: Bollywood, Bachchan and Me in 2007  and Bachchanalia in 2009.  Bachchan himself has also written a book in 2002: Soul Curry for you and me - An Empowering Philosophy That Can Enrich Your Life.

 

Amitabh Bachchan

Bachchan was a Sikh-Punjabi from Faisalabad (now in Pakistan). Bachchan was initially named Inquilaab, inspired from the famous phrase Inquilab Zindabad, during the Indian independence struggle. However, at the suggestion of fellow poet Sumitranandan Pant, Harivansh Rai changed the name to Amitabh which means, "the light that would never go off."

Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor and producer. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Bollywood cinema, and has since become one of the most prominent figures in the history of Indian cinema. Bachchan has won numerous major awards in his career, including four National Film Awards, three of which are in the Best Actor category, and fourteen Filmfare Awards. He holds the record for most number of Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor nominations at the Filmfare Awards.

Amitabh Bachchan

Anand (1971) followed, where he starred alongside Rajesh Khanna. Bachchan's roles as a doctor with a cynical view of life garned him his first Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. Amitabh then played his first negative role as an infatuated lover-turned-murderer in Parwaana (1971). 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" of Bollywood cinema,.  He earned 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,

Amitabh Bachchan

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. 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. In 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. Canara Bankwithdrew 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. In 2009 Oscar winning movie Slumdog Millionaire in the first question of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? contest "Amitabh Bachchan" was the correct answer to the question "Who was the star of Zanjeer? Feroz Abbas Khan performed as Amitabh Bachchan in a scene in the movie while Anil Kapoor performed as the host of the contest.   

Amitabh Bachchan

In November 2005, Amitabh Bachchan was admitted to Lilavati Hospital's ICU once more, to undergo surgery for diverticulitis of the small intestine.  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,

In January 2008 at political rallies, Raj Thackeray, the chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, targeted Amitabh Bachchan, asserting that the actor was "more inclined" towards his native state than Maharashtra. He expressed his disapproval of Amitabh's inaugurating a girls' school named after his daughter-in-law, actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, at Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, rather than in Maharashtra.

Severals books have been written about Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan: the Legend was published in 1999, To be or not to be: Amitabh Bachchan in 2004,  AB: The Legend: (A Photographer's Tribute) in 2006  , Amitabh Bachchan: Ek Jeevit Kimvadanti in 2006, Amitabh: The Making of a Superstar in 2006,   Looking for the Big B: Bollywood, Bachchan and Me in 2007  and Bachchanalia in 2009. Bachchan himself has also written a book in 2002: Soul Curry for you and me - An Empowering Philosophy That Can Enrich Your Life.