The Star of the Millennium: Amitabh Bachchan

Born on 11-October-1942; to an eminent Hindi poet Shri. Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Smt. Teji Bachchan in Allahabad, Amitabh Bachchan is considered as the “star of the millennium”. Commonly referred to as the “Shehenshah of Bollywood” and “Big B”, he started his acting career in the year 1969 with the film “Sath Hindustani”; and received the “National Film Award for Best Newcomer” for the same. Later he appeared in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s “Anand” against superstar Rajesh Khanna and received the “Film fare Award for Best Supporting Actor”. However, he gained popularity when he played the role of Insp. Vijay in “Zanjeer”. After that, Bachchan appeared in many films essaying character of a person named “Vijay”. After Zanjeer, Bachchan’s image of an “angry young man” was developed.  

                                In the year 1973 Bachchan married his co-star of films like Zanjeer and Abhiman; Jaya Bhaduri. In the year 1975, Bachchan appeared in the most iconic film of the Bollywood, “Sholay”. He played the character of Jai, and the dual of Jai-Veeru became a home name during that period.

On 26 July 1982, while filming Coolie, Bachchan suffered a near fatal intestinal injury during the filming of a fight scene with co-actor Puneet Issar. After which he remained critically ill in hospital for many months, many a times close to death. The director, however, altered the ending of Coolie after Bachchan's accident. His 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 director, for the man who had just fended off death in real life to be killed on screen. Later, he was diagnosed with Myasthenia gravis. His illness made him feel weak both mentally and physically and he decided to quit films and venture into politics. He contested in Allahabad’s seat of eighth Lok Sabha and won the elections by one of the highest victory margins in election history. But, he resigned from politics in 1987 and went back to acting.

                                In 1988, Bachchan returned to films, playing the title role in Shahenshah, which was a box office success. However, after that his films began to flop on box-office. Bachchan turned producer during this period, setting up Amitabh Bachchan Corporation, Ltd. (ABCL) in 1996, but the films that the corp. produced flopped and the Indian Industries Board declared it a failure.

After this huge setback, Bachchan tried to re-establish his acting career by doing films like Mohabbatein, Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham and Baghban. He also began hosting the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati? Based on Who wants to be a Millionaire? During this period; and thus made his small screen debut. One project that restored his stardom was Black. Critics and audiences unanimously praised his performance and won him his second National Film Award for Best Actor, his fourth Film fare Best Actor Award and his second Film fare Critics Award for Best Actor. He then appeared in films like Bunty aur Babli, Sarkar and Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna with his son Abhishek Bachchan.

The year 2007 marked Bachchan's first appearance in an English-language film, “The Last Lear”, co-starring Arjun Rampal and Preity Zinta. Paa, which released at the end of 2009 was a highly anticipated project as it saw him playing his own son Abhishek's Progeria-affected 13-year-old son, and it fetched him some positive reviews and awards. It won him his third National Film Award for Best Actor and fifth Film fare Best Actor Award. In 2010, he debuted in Malayalam Kandahar.. After that he never looked back and went on to give some super hits like Piku and Pink.

He has won 220 awards for his films so far. The Government of India awarded him with the “Padma Shri” in 1984, the “Padma Bhushan” in 2001 and the “Padma Vibhushan” in 2015. France's highest civilian honor, “the Knight of the Legion of Honor”, was conferred upon him by the government of France in 2007 for his "exceptional career in the world of cinema and beyond". Amitabh Bachchan Sports Complex in Allahabad managed by UP Sports Directorate is named after him.  In addition, a road is named after him as Amitabh Bachchan Road in his hometown, Allahabad.  A government senior secondary school in Saifai, Amitabh Bachchan Government Inter College, Saifai, established in 1997 is also named after him. In addition, there is a temple in Kolkata, where Amitabh is worshipped as a God.