Biography

Amitabh Bachchan was born on October 11, 1942 in Allahabad, British India (present-day Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India) to legendary poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan & Teji Bachchan. He also 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 Bachchan made an entry in Bollywood, starting with Zanjeer, co-starred with his future wife Jaya Bhaduri, and since then there has been no looking back.

He married Jaya Bhaduri, an accomplished actress in her own right, and they had two children, Shweta and Abhishek. Shweta is married, lives a non-filmy life and has two children.

Being friends with Rajiv Gandhi, got him to decide to run for seat in the Indian National Congress (political party) from his home town but had to leave mid-term 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 crore rupees of his sinking company ABCL saw him at an all-time low. To make matters worse, after the defeat of the Congress party, Bachchan 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 Khakee (2004), Bachchan is showing no signs of slowing down and proving the critics wrong once again.

Amitabh and Jaya were interested in getting their son Abhishek married to Karisma Kapoor, the daughter of Babita and Randhir 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.

On November 16, 2011, he became a Dada (paternal grandfather) when Aishwarya gave birth to a daughter in a Mumbai Hospital. He is already a Nana (maternal grandfather) to Navya and Agastye - Shweta's children.

He continues to be one of the 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

The trademark deep baritone voice, the tall, brooding persona, and intense eyes, made Amitabh Bachchan the ideal "Angry Young Man" in the 1975-84. 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 person - 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. 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 post emergency period, 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 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, sharing that title with Rajesh Khanna, from 1975 until the mid 1980s.From 1985-1999 he had many flops and people criticized for playing same roles repeatedly. 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 mega-star 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 1984, for the first time since 1976, his film flopped and in 1989 3 films 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 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). At sixty plus, Amitabh Bachchan is a greater icon than he was at the height of his popularity three decades ago.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: darashukoh

Amitabh Bachchan was born on October 11, 1942 in Allahabad. He is the son of late poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan did his schooling from Sherwood College, Nainital and later on pursued a degree in science from the Delhi University. His first job was in Shaw Wallace and later worked as a freight broker for a shipping firm called Bird and Co. But his destiny had something else to offer and it was the journey to stardom. He made his debut in the film Saat Hindustani (1969) which was directed by K.A. Abbas. Film failed on the box-office but Amitabh was noticed by film makers like Hrishikesh Mukherji and Sunil Dutt. Hrishikesh Mukherji (whom Amitabh treat as his Godfather),gave him a role in his two films, Anand and Guddi. Anand was the third film, which became a hit and he got best supporting actor filmfare award. Amitabh was getting the roles but they were not significant. Finally he got a chance to work in "Zanjeer", role for which he was not the first choice. Film turned out to be super-hit. By then a new avatar had emerged on silver screen, an "Angry young man". But this was his one aspect. He was a poet (Kabhi Kabhi), an decent professor (Kasme Vaade), a comedian (Chupke Chupke, Amar Akbar Anthony, Don), a dying lover (Mukaddar Ka Sikander).He did almost all kinds of roles. In 1973, after release of Zanjeer, Amitabh got married with Jaya Bhaduri. He became father at the time of release of Chupke Chupke. During the shooting of "Coolie" on 26th July 1982, he was injured and admitted to Breech Candy hospital. The whole nation prayed for his fast recovery and by the grace of God he was gifted with a new life. Mrs. Indira Gandhi, then P.M. of India, postponed her foreign trip and visited the hospital. After recovery Amitabh returned on silver screen, with Sharabi and Giraftar like hit movies. In the original script of "Coolie" Iqbal (Amitabh) had to die but Teji Bachchan asked Manmohan Desai to change it for her personal reasons. The last scene where he stands in the balcony and thank the people, was the real scene, a way to thank the people of India, "Main to chala gaya tha, laut aaya hoon to bus aapki duaon se...." Amitabh also tried his hand in politics in 1984 after the death of Mrs. Gandhi. He defeated the then called Chankya of the Indian politics, Hemvanti Nandan Bahuguna. But some how things went wrong and he got trapped in the dirty game of politics of anti-Rajiv Gandhi. Although during this period his classics "Main Azad Hoon" and "Agneepath" were released, but Amitabh was getting older. Amitabh decided to take a break in 1992, Khuda Gawah was the last release. He then launched ABCL which was a multi-faceted commercial enterprise. This was the major failure and he was surrounded by unthinkable debt. This is hard to imagine at that time how he survived but again he proved that he is not an ordinary man who live and die. With "Kaun Banega Crorepati" and "Mohabattein" he redefined his position in Indian cinema. Amitabh emerged again as a winner and slapped the critics who declared him "finished". Even in this age roles are written for him. Every film maker is dreaming to cast him in his/her film. He was declared as Star of the Millenium by BBC poll, by Stardust and even at the survey for statue at Madam Tusad. These are not mere coincident! May God bless him.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: gavin (gunmasterM@hotmail.com)