Amitabh Bachchan Biography
Amitabh Bachchan -- the ‘Shahenshah’ of Bollywood was born to well-known poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan in Allahabad on October 11, 1942.
The elder son of Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a former stage actor, radio announcer and freight company executive in Shaw Wallace in Calcutta, before coming to the land of dreams, Bombay (now Mumbai). He had to struggle a lot in Bollywood because of his unconventional looks and his height. At 6’3”, he was considered far too tall by the filmmakers. Surprisingly, despite having a rich baritone voice, Bachchan failed in an audition at the All India Radio!
Ultimately, it was K A Abbas who gave Amitabh his first break in ‘Saat Hindustani’ (1969). But the film failed miserably, with Bachchan going almost unnoticed.
Amitabh played the lead role, for the first time in his career, in ‘Pyar Ki Kahani’ (1971), directed by Ravikant Nagaich.
It was on the sets of B R Ishara’s ‘Ek Nazar’ (1972) that Amitabh and Jaya Bhaduri realized that they were in love with each other. They married soon after.
Though Amitabh got an award for the best supporting actor for ‘Anand’ (1972), he was eclipsed by a stellar performance from Rajesh Khanna.
It was his 13th film 'Zanjeer’, directed by Prakash Mehra, which catapulted Amitabh to fame. In the film, he played a strict police officer. The role, which fetched him the title ‘The Angry Young Man’, came to him by default. A host of actors like Dharmendra, Dev Anand and Raj Kumar refused to do the role on account of some apprehension.
Then began a remarkable journey to fame and success. In no time the Indian film industry was declared a ‘One Man Industry’, and Bachchan its undisputed king.
Amitabh had his ‘sweet revenge’ against Rajesh Khanna by outshining him in ‘Namak Haraam’ (1974). The film secured him another award for Best Supporting Actor.
The year 1975 saw the release of Amitabh’s two biggest hits till date. Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Sholay’ and Yash Chopra’s ‘Deewaar’. Amitabh got his first Best Actor Award for Manmohan Desai’s ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ (1977), next year for ‘Don’ and then for ‘Hum’ (1991).
He also bagged the National Award for Best Actor for ‘Agneepath’, which was made by the late Mukul Anand.
Amitabh worked with a host of directors in the 70s and the 80s ranging from Prakash Mehra to Yash Chopra and from Hrishikesh Mukherjee to Manmohan Desai.
After ‘Zanjeer’ Amitabh again joined hands with Prakash Mehra to give hits like ‘Hera Pheri’ (1975), ‘Muqaddar Ka Siqander’ (1979), ‘Lawaaris’ (1981), ‘Namak Halaal’ (1982) and ‘Sharaabi’ (1984).
Yash Chopra exploited the romantic side of Bachchan to the hilt in ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ (1976) and ‘Silsila’ (1981). Bachchan also did the ‘angry’ roles with Yash Chopra in ‘Trishul’ (1978) and ‘Kaala Patthar’ (1979).
Bachchan essayed a fantastic range of ‘off-beat’ roles under the direction of veteran Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Apart from ‘Anand’ and ‘Namak Haraam’, he gave standout performances in ‘Abhimaan’ (1973) ‘Mili’ (1975), ‘Chupke Chupke’ (1975), ‘Jurmana’ (1979) and ‘Bemisaal’ (1982).
With the late Manmohan Desai, the director with the Midas touch, Amitabh did nine films, which included blockbusters like ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Suhaag’ (1979) and ‘Coolie’ (1983).
The adulation for Amitabh became clear when he was gravely injured during the filming of ‘Coolie’ in 1983. While he was battling for life in the hospital, the whole nation offered prayers at temples and mosques for his recovery. His other hits with ‘Man’ were ‘Parvarish’ (1977), ‘Naseeb’ (1981), ‘Desh Premee’ (1982) and ‘Mard’ (1985).
Amitabh’s sizzling on-screen chemistry with Rekha worked wonders at the box office. No wonder, the delectable duo was considered one of the most successful Bollywood pairs. They worked together for the first time in Dulal Guha’s ‘Do Anjaane’ (1976).
Amitabh matched the acting skills of another great actor in Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Shakti’ (1982). The son of a strict police officer (Dilip Kumar), he takes to the life of high crime and smuggling. It was a big challenge for Amitabh the actor, and he came out with flying colors.
In the wake of the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, on the advice of his close friend Rajiv Gandhi, he contested the general elections for the first time from his hometown Allahabad. His electoral debut proved the Waterloo of stalwart H N Bahuguna.
His stint in politics, however, proved short-loved. As ill luck would have it, Amitabh got embroiled in some scandals. Having realized that politics was not his cup of tea, Amitabh resigned his seat in Parliament, vowing never to dabble in politics again.
In 1988 came Tinu Anand’s ‘Shahenshah’. It blazed a new trail, with Amitabh becoming the first major film star to take his film’s distribution rights for Mumbai in lieu of his salary.
The post-‘Shahenshah’ period marked a lull in the career of Amitabh. A host of mediocre films like ‘Ganga Jamuna Saraswati’, ‘Toofan’, ‘Jaadugar’ littered this phase of Bachchan’s career.
But then, the Big B bounced back – in brilliant fashion-- when the industry started to write him off. The comeback film was ‘Hum’ (1991) which was a smashing hit, thanks to Big B’s stellar performance.
A few years later, Amitabh started his own production company, the Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL). ABCL ventured into film distribution with Mani Ratnam’s ‘Bombay’. It also was the principal sponsor of the Miss Universe Contest, held in Bangalore in 1996.
Unfortunately, ABCL fell on evil days, buried neck deep in debt. The company’s cup of woe ran over when his films flopped miserably at the box-office. And he was again ‘written off’ by the industry.
This time, too, Bachchan bounced back in style. Only, it was his performance on the small screen that revived the Bachchan magic. The host of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ once again rode the roller coaster of fame. A mellowed Bachchan found himself firmly ‘locked’ in the hearts of millions of his adoring fans. The show represented a paradigm shift in the history of Indian television. It is still luxuriating in the lap of success.
Then came the international accolades. Amitabh was chosen Superstar of the Millennium, easing out giants like Sir Lawrence Olivier and Charlie Chaplin on a BBC online poll. National recognition followed soon. On January 26, 2001 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his outstanding contributions to Indian Cinema.
Amitabh is a relieved man now, having paid off all his debts. What is more, he is once again a force to reckon with in the Indian film industry and has some very interesting films coming up.
Undoubtedly, Amitabh is still the Shahenshah of the Indian film industry. The Big B is an icon who has survived three decades of competition, even trends. And emerged a winner.
| Amitabh's parents were Harivansh Rai 'Bachchan' and Teji. Harivansh Rai was a well known Hindi poet. Amitabh attended Boys' High School in Allahabad followed by Sherwood College in Nainital and went on to Delhi University to earn a degree in science. In 1982, Amitabh was injured while filming on the set of Coolie. He was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. His condition was major news, as millions of avid fans waited for hospital bulletins and prayed for his recovery. Amitabh recovered and resumed making films. Popular interest in his injury had been so high that when Coolie was released, it featured a freeze-frame and caption, isolating the exact instant during a fight scene when Amitabh was hurt. Amitabh Bachchan married actress Jaya Bhaduri in 1973. He has co-starred with Jaya in many films: Zanjeer, Abhimaan, Sholay, Silsila and, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. They have two children: Shweta Bachchan Nanda (b. 1974) and Abhishek Bachchan (b. 1976). Abhishek Bachchan has already followed his father's footsteps, having starred in a number of recent movies. His first film was Saat Hindustani (1969). He became well known as a movie star in 1973, with the films Abhimaan and Zanjeer. Amitabh's most loved films and characters date from this period. Fans remember him from box office hits like Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Trishul, Don and Deewar . Amitabh often played an angry young man fighting a corrupt establishment -- a theme that had immense appeal in the India of that period. Moreover, he had great on-screen presence and a real flair for comedy. However, even his most ardent fans will admit that many of his films would be forgettable if not for his presence; they were run-of-the-mill masala movies with creaking plots and sub-par production values. While he was a star, none of that mattered, but lack of selectivity may have had something to do with his later career doldrums. He had been making films all through the 1980s and 1990s, but few had succeeded. Mrityudata (1997), failed at the box office. Lal Badshah and Major Saab did little better. Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan and Mohabbatein were hits, but critics credited his co-stars Govinda and Shahrukh Khan, not Amitabh. Industry gossip said that the Big B was finished as an actor. But Bachchan still had charisma. In 1999, in a BBC Online Poll, he was named the Superstar of the Millennium ahead of the likes of Alec Guinness and Marlon Brando. In June, 2000 he became the first living Asian to have a wax statue erected in his honour at Madame Tussaud's. In 2000, he was chosen as the host for a new Indian game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Amitabh was a suave, assured host and the show became an enormous hit. When the show was on, the street traffic dropped dramatically; restaurants and movie theaters complained of diminishing clientele. Critics finally admitted that Amitabh still had box-office magic. (The show has recently started airing again, to much the same interest.) Since his game show success, he has appeared in several hit movies. Amitabh has also appeared in many ads, both for commercial products and for various non-profits. He has supported campaigns for eye donations and against polio and AIDS. An Amitabh film retrospective was held between April 8 and April 19, 2005 at the Lincoln Center in New York. The retrospective featured films starring Bachchan including Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Anand and Abhimaan and Sanjay Bhansali's Black. Amitabh was there for the plaudits; he also took this opportunity to appear on a number of television talk shows. In 1984, Bachchan briefly entered politics in support of long-time family friend Rajiv Gandhi. He contested Allahabad's parliament seat against H. N. Bahuguna, a well-known politician and won. However, his political career was short-lived; he resigned after three years before finishing his term. At the time of his resignation, Gandhi's Congress Party was being accused of corruption. Bachchan was never implicated in the corruption and has since distanced himself from the Gandhi family. Bachchan denies that the these events were connected, commenting that he found politics unpleasant and resigned for personal reasons. In 1995, Amitabh went into business, starting the Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited, or ABCL. ABCL was to be a media conglomerate, a Hollywood-style entertainment company. Amitabh may have been ahead of his time, or just unsuited to be a business mogul, as the company did not succeed. He did not file for bankruptcy, but has used his acting income to pay his business debts, which are rumored to have been completely cleared in 2005. Some observers speculate that he will try to revive his company |
| Awards Bachchan is a recipient of the Padma Shri (1983) and the Padma Bhushan (2005), civilian honours from the indian government. In 1999, he was named BBC Superstar of the Millenium. He has also won many Filmfare Awards. |
Amitabh attended the prestigious Sherwood School, Nainital, and graduated from Kirorimal College, Delhi. His first ever job was in a company called Shaw Wallace. He also worked as a freight broker for a shipping firm, which went by the name of Bird and Co, drawing a four-figure salary and languishing in the club lands of Calcutta. His favourite screen name is Vijay (Deewar, Zanjeer, Shakti) and favourite screen profession was to play a cop (Zanjeer, Ram Balram, Bade Miya Chote Miya, Aks) While shooting for a fight sequence in Manmohan Desai's Coolie, Amitabh was knocked down by the film's villain Puneet Issar, due to bad timing, seriously injuring him. August 2 is regarded as the day when he got a new lease of life. He is a vegetarian, who loves to gorge on simple food, like aloo puri, pakodas, dhoklas and parathas. Besides making a hit jodi with the likes of Jaya Bhadhuri, Rekha, Zeenat Aman, Raakhee, Parveen Babi and Sridevi, Big B made a smashing pair with Dharmendra (Ram Balram, Sholay, Chupke Chupke), Vinod Khanna (Muqqadar Ka Sikander, Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish) and Shashi Kapoor (Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Deewar, Shaan, Trishul). It was during the making of Sholay that Amitabh discovered he was going to be the proud father of his first-born, Shweta. Son Abhishek may be similar in looks, but daughter Shweta is temperamentally similar to her father, according to Jaya. For someone who is not a professional singer, Amitabh has sung quite a few hit songs. Witness: Mere Angne Mein (Laawaris), Rang Barse (Silsila), Mere Paas Aao (Mr Natwarlal) and Tu Maike Mat Jaiyo (Pukar) , to name a few. Amitabh has been diagnosed with a nerve-related disease, Myasthenia Gravis, which has now been prognocised as Gullain Barre Syndrome. He has a replica of himself sculpted and displayed at Madame Tussad's wax museum in London, placing him among the historical and entertainment Hall of Fame. Amitabh was one of the first to come up with a music album AB Baby for his music company Big B music. He even appeared in an imaginatively shot video by Rakesh Mehra called Eir Bir Phatte, which was an instant hit. BBC Online voted him Star of the Millennium, above Hollywood greats. A trendsetter, Amitabh Bachchan made a path breaking entry in the world of television with the Indian remake of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire -- Kaun Banega Crorepati. Going by the astounding success of the show, a good move by the savvy Bachchan. Amitabh tried his hand at politics in 1984. He won the Allahabad Parliamentary seat on a Congress ticket by a whooping number of votes. AB loves gorging on gulab jamuns, especially from Jhama's in Chembur, Bombay. |
No comments:
Post a Comment