Amitabh Bachchan is a famous Indian film actor who came into prominence with hard-hitting roles in the early 1970’s. Bachchan was labelled as the country’s first “Angry Young Man” and rose to prominence with roles in films like ‘Deewar’ ‘Sholay’ and ‘Zanjeer’. Bachchan is often referred to as ‘Big B’ and ‘Shahenshah of Bollywood’ and is one of the most successful and influential actors produced by the country.
In a career spanning 50 years, Bachchan has received several honours and accolades. Across various categories, Bachchan has received 41 Filmfare nominations, winning the award 15 times. He has also won four National film awards in the Best Actor Category. Besides his film awards, Bachchan has been felicitated with various civilian awards such as the 1984 Padma Shri Award, 2001 Padma Bhushan award, and the 2015 Padma Vibhushan award. At one point in his career, he was touted as a “one-man industry”.
Early Life and Education
Born as Inquilab Shrivastava on 11 October 1942, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, Bachchan is the son of poet Harivansh Rai Srivastava who adopted the pen name Bachchan (meaning child-like) and homemaker Teji Bachchan. His birth named was inspired by the phrase “Inquilab Zindabad” meaning ‘Long live the Revolution’, which was a famous chant of the Indian Independence movement. He was renamed Amitabh on the suggestion of his father’s friend and poet Sumitranandan Pant. Bachchan has one younger brother named Ajitabh.
During his early years, Bachchan attended the Jnana Prabodhini Boys’ High School. He later attended the Sherwood College, Nainital. Bachchan is also an alumnus of Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi from where he earned himself a Bachelor of Science Degree.
Career Rise
Bachchan made his film debut in the 1969 film ‘Saat Hindustani’ in which he portrayed the character of Anwar Ali, one of the seven main protagonists but was unable to leave an impression. He became a household name in 1971, when he appeared in the film ‘Anand’ starring Rajesh Khanna, which won Bachchan his first Filmfare award in the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ category.
The years 1973-1983 turned out to be the golden period in Bachchan’s career, with him delivering one blockbuster after another and rising to the position of being India’s most viable actor. Bachchan was cast by director Prakash Mehra for his 1973 film ‘Zanjeer’ in which he portrayed the character of Inspector Vijay Khanna. The film earned Bachchan the title of India’s “Angry Young Man”. His other super-successful films of this period include ‘Abhiman’ and ‘Namak Haram’ in 1973 and ‘Majboor’ in 1974. The year 1975 proved to be the highest point in Bachchan’s career and saw the release of many super successful films across various genres such as the multi-starrer comic caper ‘Chupke Chupke’, the romantic drama ‘Mili’, the crime drama ‘Farar’ as well as ‘Zameer’, ‘Deewar’ and ‘Sholay’. Sholay went on to achieve the status of a cult-classic in India and became the highest grossing film of the year. While ‘Zameer’, ‘Sholay’ and ‘Deewar’ established Bachchan as the “Angry Young Man”, Bachchan also cemented his image as a romantic hero with films like ‘Kabhi Kabhi’, ‘Kasme Vaade’, ‘Suhaag’ etc. Bachchan won his first Filmfare Best Actor award in 1977 for his work in ‘Amar, Akbar, Anthony’. He appeared in a double role in the 1978 film ‘Don’, playing both protagonist and antagonist and won his second Filmfare Award for Best actor.
Although Bachchan’s career went through a dull phase after he joined politics in 1984, his career was resurrected in 2000, when he took on the role of the host of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, India’s version of ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’. Some of his recent successful films include ‘Mohabbatein’ in 2000, ‘Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham’ in 2001, ‘Baghban’ in 2003, ‘Black’ and ‘Sarkar’ in 2005, ‘Cheeni Kum’ in 2007, ‘Paa’ in 2009, ‘Piku’ in 2015 and ‘Pink’ in 2016.
Amitabh Bachchan – Young Pictures
Personal Life
Bachchan dated and later married his co-star of many films, actress Jaya Bhaduri in 1973. The couple have two children; an elder daughter named Shweta and a son named Abhishek. While his daughter Shweta is married to Nikhil is married to businessman Nikhil Nanda, son Abhishek is also an actor and is married to former Miss World and actress Aishwarya Rai.
Bachchan is grandfather to his daughter’s children a girl, Navya Naveli and boy Agstya Nanda and also to Aradhya Bachchan, the daugher of his son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya.
Home
Bachchan owns two private properties, both in Mumbai, India. He usually resides in his bungalow, Pratiksha, in a joint family system with his wife, son and daughter-in-law and grand-daughter in the plush Juhu area of Mumbai. For tourists visiting Mumbai, Pratiksha is considered as a landmark.
He has another Bungalow named Jalsa that was gifted to him by film-director Ramesh Sippy after the success of the 1982 film ‘Satte Pe Satta’. Jalsa has a living area of approximately 10,125 square feet.
Amitabh Bachchan’s Bungalow – Pratiksha (Pictures)
Amitabh Bachchan’s Bungalow – Jalsa (Pictures)
Cars
Bachchan has a fleet of 15 luxurious cars. He owns 2 Bentleys; Arnage R and Continental GT, a Lexus LX 470, Mercedes Benz E240, S600, S320, and SL500, A Porche Cayman S, an SUV Range Rover, a Lamborghini Murcielago, BMW X5 and 760LI, a Toyota Land Crusier, A mini cooper and a Rolls Royce Phantom gifted to him by film-maker Vidhu Vinod Chopra for his work in ‘Eklavya’.
Amitabh Bachchan – Net Worth, Assets and Properties
Bachchan has an estimated net worth of approximately $400 Million. According to an affidavit filed by his wife Jaya for nomination as an SP candidate, the combined immovable assets of the couple are valued at more than Rs. 460 crore. The value of their movable assets stood at Rs. 540 crore.
Mr and Mrs. Bachchan own gold and jewellery that are worth more than Rs. 62.5 crore of which Amitabh’s share is Rs.36 crore. The value of cars owned by Amitabh Bachchan are worth more than Rs.13 crore. Amitabh owns watches that are valued at around Rs. 3.3 crore.
Amitabh Bachchan, apart from his well-known homes in Mumbai has properties in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bhopal, Noida and also a home in Brignogan Plage, France.
