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Son of the great poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, this six feet tall man from Allahabad started the trend of the angry young man in the film industry. Director K. A. Abbas launched him in the film Saat Hindustani which went unnoticed. But luckily for him Prakash Mehra signed him for Zanjeer which worked out extraordinarily well,for the young star and he never looked back. This versatile actor even did the playback in most of his films. Amitabh met with a serious accident on the sets of Coolie, the entire nation united in prayers for his speedy recovery. The prayers turned into a blessing for the superhero, as he returned to the scene with double the impact. It was love at first sight for Amitabh as Jaya became his spouse and the famous Guddi girl Jaya Bhaduri transformed into Mrs. Bachchan. With an excellent career and great family life, Big B launched his company ABCL which is known as Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited which realesed many controversial films like Mani Ratnam's Bombay and Shekhar Kapoor's Bandit Queen and commercial film's like Joy Augustine's Tere Mere Sapne and Sachin's Naam Kya Hai which was produced under the same banner. His latest album release was Eer Bhir Phatte and Kabhi Kabhi. Big B has worked almost with all successful directors right from Hrishikesh Mukherjee to Mehul Kumar. Some of his memorable films are as follows
Altogether, Amitabh Bachhan has appeared in over 70 films, many of them, (particularly those from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s), were resounding successes. During the shooting of the movie Coolie, he injured himself fatally and had a near brush with death. He married Jaya Bhaduri, one of the most successful and accomplished actresses in Hindi cinema, and quite in the Indian fashion, she ceased to act in Hindi films after their marriage.
Some years ago, Amitabh
attempted a return to the commercial world of cinema, but he has not had the impact that
he had in previous years. However, he continues to have an extraordinary public presence
in India. It was Satyajit Ray, among others, who found that Amitabh's deep and rich voice,
which leaves a lasting impression upon listeners, makes for excellent narration. Amitabh
had provided narration for numerous films and cultural programs, and he now also heads an
entertainment company. Most recently, his entertainment company was the principal sponsor
of the Miss Universe Contest, held in Bangalore in 1996. He is truly committed to the
proposition that India must become a major player on the world stage. |
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"Amitabh
Bachhan is, in popular parlance, the king of Indian cinema, most certainly of the
commerical Hindi film. The older of the two sons of Harivansh Rai, an acclaimed Hindi
poet, and the socialite Teji Bachhan, Amitabh went to Sherwood College, a boarding school
in the hill-station town of Nainital, and from there to Delhi University where he earned
an arts degree. His first appearance was in the movie Saat Hindustani [Seven Indians],
which did not do particularly well at the box office. Nonetheless,
Amitabh was not deterred, and he can be said to have arrived in the Hindi film world with
the films Zanjeer [Chains] and Deewar [Wall] . With his tall and lean looks, Amitabh
became emblematic of the new kind of action hero. Whereas his predecessors such as Rajesh
Khanna and Dharmendra played romantic roles, Amitabh introduced the motif of the 'angry
young man' to Indian cinema. The time was set in the mid-1970s, when domestic politics
were in a period of great turmoil, student unrest was prevalent, and the employment
prospects for educated young men were bleak at best. In Deewar, which furnishes the
classic example of the double in Hindi cinema, he played the role of a mafia don and
smuggler opposite his policeman brother, played by Shashi Kapoor. The theme of
'alienation' is further explored in Shakti [Energy; Strength], where as the son of a
strict police officer (Dilip Kumar), Amitabh takes to the high life of crime and
smuggling. 
About
ten years later, Amitabh retired from the film world. He then tried his hand at politics.
Due to his enormous popularity, not to mention the close association with Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, he
was elected to parliament with a huge majority from his home city of Allahabad. But his
stint in politics did not last long and he was implicated in some scandals. He gave up his
seat in parliament, vowing never to be involved in politics again.