Amitabh Bachchan name is Amitabh Srivastava. He was born on 11 October 1942. Amitabh is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer. And a former politician is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regards as one of the most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema. During the 1970s–1980s, he was the most dominant actor in the Indian movie scene; the French director François Truffaut called him a “one-man industry”.
Bachchan was born in 1942 in Allahabad to the Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and his wife, the social activist Teji Bachchan. He was educated at Sherwood College, Nainital, and Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. His film career started in 1969 as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen’s film Bhuvan Shome.
He first gained popularity in the early 1970s for films such as Zanjeer, Deewaar and Sholay, and was dubbed India’s “angry young man” for his on-screen roles in Hindi films. Referred to as the Shahenshah of Bollywood (in reference to his 1988 film Shahenshah), Sadi ka Mahanayak (Hindi for, “Greatest actor of the century”), Star of the Millennium, or Big B.
He has since appeared in over 200 Indian films in a career spanning more than five decades and has won numerous accolades in his career, including four National Film Awards as Best Actor, Dadasaheb Phalke Award as a lifetime achievement award and many awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies.
Bachchan’s parents were initially going to name him Inquilaab (Hindustani for “Revolution”). Inspired by the phrase Inquilab Zindabad, which translates into English as “Long live the revolution”. Popularly used during the Indian independence struggle; the name Amitabh was suggested to his father by poet Sumitranandan Pant. Although his surname was Shrivastava, Amitabh’s father, who opposed the caste system, had adopted the pen name Bachchan (“child-like” in colloquial Hindi), under which he published all of his works.
When his father start searching to get him to admit to a school. He and Bachchan’s mother decide the family’s name should be Bachchan instead of Shrivastava. It is with this last name that Amitabh debuted in films. And used for all other practical purposes, Bachchan has become the surname for all of his immediate family. Bachchan’s father died in 2003, and his mother in 2007.
Bachchan was educated at Boys’ High School & College, Allahabad; Sherwood College, Nainital; and Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. When Bachchan finished his studies his father approached Prithviraj Kapoor, the founder of Prithvi Theatre, to see if there was an opening for him, but Kapoor “offered no encouragement”. Bachchan then applied for a role as a newsreader for All India Radio, Delhi but “failed the audition”.
He became a business executive for Bird & Company in Kolkata (Calcutta). And worked in the theatre before starting his film career. It is thought that his mother might have had some influence in Amitabh Bachchan’s choice of career because she always insisted that he should “take centre stage.”
After a three-year stint in politics from 1984 to 1987. Bachchan returned to films in 1988, playing the title role in Shahenshah, which was a box office success. After the success of his comeback film, however, his star power began to wane. As all of his subsequent films like Jaadugar, Toofan and Main Azaad Hoon (all released in 1989) failed at the box office. He gained success during this period with the crime drama Aaj Ka Arjun (1990) and action crime drama Hum (1991).
These years would see his last on-screen appearances for some time. After the release of the critically acclaimed epic Khuda Gawah in 1992, Bachchan went into semi-retirement for five years. With the exception of the delayed release of Insaniyat (1994), which was also a box office failure, Bachchan did not appear in any new releases for five years.
Instagram: @amitabhbachchan