Amitabh Bachchan Biography

Date of Birth

11 October 1942, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Birth Name

Amitabh Harivansh Srivastav

Nickname

Big B
Munna
One Man Industry
Angry Young Man
Bollywood's Shahenshah
Amith
AB Sr.

Height

6' 2" (1.88 m)

Mini Biography

Son of well known poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan. He has a brother named Ajitabh. He completed his education from Uttar Pradesh and moved to Bombay to find work as a film star, in vain though, as film-makers preferred someone with a fairer skin, and he was not quite fair enough. But they did use one of his other assets - his deep baritone voice - which was used for narration and background commentary. He was successful in being cast in Saat Hindustani. He got his break in Bollywood after a letter of introduction from the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, as he was a friend of her son Rajiv Gandhi. This is how Amitabh made an entry in Bollywood, starting with Zanjeer, co-starred with his future wife-to-be Jaya Bhaduri, and since then there has been no looking back. He married Jaya Bhaduri, an actress in her own rights, he has two kids, Shweta and Abhishek. Shweta has been married, lives a non-filmy life and has a child. Being friends with Rajiv Gandhi, got him to decide to run for seat in the Congress from his hometown but had to leave midterm because of controversies, particularly after Rajiv and he were implicated in the now infamous "Bofors" case along with the U.K. based Hinduja Brothers. After a four year break, he was back in the unsuccessful Mrityudaata (1997), a comeback which the actor wanted to forget. Critics written him off but his career was saved with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998). But four flops in 1999 and incurring debt of over 90 Crores rupees of his sinking company ABCL saw him at an all-time low. To make matters worse, after the defeat of the Congress party, Amitabh lost considerable political support, the opposition made him a target, and his credit rating deteriorated to such an extent that a leading nationalized bank, Canara Bank, sued him for outstanding loans. He did bounce back, presenting the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire called "Kaun Banega Crorepati?" (2000). After a series of hits with Mohabbatein (2000), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) and Baghban (2003) and his most recent Khakee (2004), a 60 plus Bachchan is showing no signs of slowing down and proving the critics wrong once again.

His son Abhishek is also an actor by his own rights. Amitabh and Jaya were interested in getting Abhishek married to Karishma Kapoor, the daughter of Babita and Randhi Kapoor, they went through a formal engagement, but later broke it off.

The former Miss World and Bollywood actress, Aishwarya Rai, and Abhishek, were formally engaged on Sunday January 14, 2007, at the Bachchan residence in Juhu, Bombay, with the marriage taking place at the Bachchan residence on April 20, 2007.

Currently, he is one of the most busiest actors and singers in Bollywood as well as on TV, as can be seen from the commercials that he appears on, especially on Sahara One. Looks like there are no limits for this super-star and once the "Angry Young Man". of Bollywood.

IMDb Mini Biography By: rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Mini Biography

The trademark deep baritone voice, the tall, brooding persona, and intense eyes, made Amitabh Bachchan the ideal "Angry Young Man" in the 1970s, thereby changing the face of Hindi cinema. The son of the late poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan, he was born in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. After completing his education from Sherwood College, Nainital, and Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, he moved to Calcutta to work for shipping firm Shaw and Wallace. Later, he moved to Bombay and struggled for a while to get his foot in the door of the Hindi film industry. The lanky, dark, and intensely brooding persona did not go down well with directors who were looking for wise-cracking, fair, loverboys - the trademark of the Indian hero in the 1960s. Starting with the low key Saat Hindustani, Bachchan struggled through many roles and was relegated at times to doing voice-overs and in one instance playing a deaf-mute (his deep baritone voice might have overshadowed the other actors!). He broke through with Zanjeer (the Chain) in 1973 playing opposite his real-life love interest and future wife Jaya Bhaduri. His persona seemed apt for the 1970s, capturing the resentment of underemployed youth and the increasing cult of violence. Bachchan reworked the image of the Hindi film hero with major hits like Deewar, Sholay, Trishul, Don, Kala Patthar, and Shakti. Adapting former screen idol Dilip Kumar's mannerisms and adding his own flamboyance, he popularized the violent melodrama. He proved that he had an equal flair for tragedies (Deewar, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Shakti) and comedies (Chupke Chupke, Don, Naseeb, Amar Akbar Anthony) as well. His most memorable performance was as the renegade against a harsh society in Deewar. After Amar Akbar Anthony in which he reveled in the role of the Cathlolic bootlegger - he played similar "masala" roles, movies that required action, comedy, tragedy, and romance in one character. This had disastrous consequences later with movies disintegrating into Amitabh variety shows rather than plot-driven stories. Bachchan was dubbed the Superstar, taking over that title from Rajesh Khanna, something he hung on to until the mid 1980s when the floor widened after his temporary departure. At the height of his popularity he was injured in an accident while shooting for the film Coolie - long lines of people prayed for his recovery at the Breach Candy hospital, underscoring his megastar status. He left films in 1985 to become a Member of Parliament from Allahabad constituency as a Congress party candidate, as a favor to his family friend Rajiv Gandhi - the new Prime MInister of India. A report of involvement in financial irregularities (of which he was completely cleared later) made him decide to step down as MP. His return in 1987 was lukewarm as the Hindi film industry had moved on and newer, younger heroes essayed the part of Angry Young Man with more conviction. Bachchan seemed to have lost his heart in making films as his later roles did not show the flicker of passion that had marked earlier efforts in the 1970s. In 1989, for the first time since 1976, three of his films were flops i.e. they could not recover their money (in the Hindi film industry a flop is a film that does not recover a distributor's price, not the producer's cost). A series of lackluster films in the 1990s pointed to a long overdue exit, common to many other stars. A seemingly well-thought out venture to start a production company ABCL landed him in immense debts. Astonishingly, he burst back with a double act: one, playing the stern patriarch (the kind against which he had rebelled in the 1970s but which role was suited to his gravelly voice), and two, reinventing himself as a brand that in turn, could market anything. He began the latter by hosting the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Kaun Banegaa Crorepati) and is now back in demand for endorsements, advertisements as well as many movie roles. At sixty plus, Amitabh Bachchan is a greater icon than he was at the height of his popularity three decades ago. His son, Abhishek is considered a talented actor who has not yet broken out as a star.