Amitabh Bachchan has been the reigning Shahenshah of Bollywood since the early 1970s. He is best known for his performances in Bollywood films like ‘Zanjeer’ (1973), ‘Deewaar’ (1975), ‘Sholay’ (1975), ‘Don’ (1978), and ‘Agneepath’ (1990). He faced lots of challenges during his acting career from physical to financial which broke him deeply, but due to his hard work and determination, he now has become the Bollywood megastar. Check out Amitabh Bachchan Wiki, Height, Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Caste, Family, Biography & More.
Biography/Wiki
Amitabh was born as Amitabh Harivansh Rai Shrivastava on 11 October 1942 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. He is known by different names such as Munna, Big B, Angry Young Man, AB Sr., Amith, and Shahenshah of Bollywood. He received several popular awards from the Government of India such as Padma Shri in 1984, Padma Bhushan in 2001, and Padma Vibhushan in 2015.
Amitabh Bachchan received Padma Vibhushan award
Physical Appearance
During his initial days in Bollywood, he was often rejected by the filmmakers due to his huge height of 6′ 2” , but after winning the National Film Award for Best Newcomer for his debut film Saat Hindustani, he broke the shackles and was widely accepted in the film industry.
Family, Caste & Girlfriend
He belongs to a Kayastha Hindu family and was born to Hindu father, Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Sikh mother, Teji Bachchan. Shyama is his step-mother. Initially, Amitabh was named Inquilaab, inspired by an Urdu phrase Inquilab Zindabad but his father changed his name to Amitabh on the suggestion given by his father’s fellow poet Sumitranandan Pant. His surname was Shrivastava, but his father replaced it with the pen name Bachchan. He has a younger brother Ajitabh Bachchan.
Amitabh Bachchan with his parents
Amitabh Bachchan brother Ajitabh Bachchan
Amitabh had a short fling with some Indian actresses Parveen Babi, Rekha, and Jaya Bhaduri. On 3 June 1973, he got married to Jaya Bhaduri, and the couple has a daughter Shweta Bachchan and a son Abhishek Bachchan, who is also an actor.
Amitabh Bachchan with his wife, son & daughter
Career
He did his schooling from Jnana Pramodhini, Boys High School, Allahabad and graduation (B.Sc.) from Kirori Mal College, New Delhi, India. Initially, he wanted to become an engineer and was keen to join the Indian Air Force. After completing studies, he started working with Shaw Wallace. He later started working as a freight broker for the shipping firm Bird and Co.
Amitabh Bachchan (Childhood)
In 1969, he made his first break as an actor in the Bollywood film Saat Hindustani in which he played the role of Anwar Ali.
Amitabh Bachchan in film Saat Hindustani
In 1984, he joined the politics to support his friend Rajiv Gandhi. He contested for the Allahabad seat against Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna in the eighth Lok Sabha elections. He got the seat with the highest victory margin in the history of the general election, that is, 68.2% of the vote. He resigned after three years in politics and calling politics a cesspool.
Amitabh Bachchan political career
He took a temporary break from his acting career to set up his own company Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd. (ABCL) with the purpose to introduce services and products that covers a whole cross-section of the entertainment industry of India. The company started in 1996 and produced several films but none of which did well.
In 1997, he made his comeback as an actor with the Bollywood film Mrityudata that was produced by ABCL, but the film was failed both critically and financially. ABCL was the main sponsor of the 1996 Miss World beauty pageant in Bangalore, but the company lost millions. Later, ABCL went into administration and was declared a failed company by the Indian Industries board. During that time, Indian politician Amar Singh helped him financially and later Amitabh started supporting him and his party Samajwadi Party.
Amitabh Bachchan supports Samajwadi Party
He hosted the popular Indian TV game show Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9. He also hosted the famous reality show Bigg Boss Season 3 (2009) and Indian entertainment talk show Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi (2015-2016). Apart from that, he acted in some TV shows like Yudh (2014) as Yudhisthir Sikarwar and Astra Force (2016-2017) as Astra (Voice Role).
Amitabh Bachchan hosted Kaun Banega Crorepati
Car Collection
Amitabh Bachchan’s collection of swanky cars includes Bentley Arnage R, Bentley Continental GT, Lexus LX 470, Mercedes-Benz SL 500 AMG, Porche Cayman S, Range Rover SUV, Mini Cooper S, Toyota Land Cruiser, BMW 760Li, BMW X5, Mercedes Benz S320, Mercedes Benz S600, Mercedes Benz E240, Mercedes-Benz GLS, Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, Mercedes-Benz V-Class, Land Rover Range Rover Autobiography, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Porsche Cayman S, and Rolls Royce Phantom. In April 2019, he sold his Rolls Royce Phantom for worth Rs. 3.5 crore.
Amitabh Bachchan’s Rolls Royce Phantom
Amitabh Bachchan while driving his Porsche Cayman S
Bachchan owns a Ford Prefect car which his friend had gifted him.
Salary/Income
Amitabh Bachchan was reported to have about seven sources of income apart from films in October 2023.
Endorsements
Amitabh Bachchan earns a significant portion of his income from endorsing various national and international brands, including Cadbury, Nestlé, Dabur, and Pepsi. According to sources, he charges between Rs. 5 crores to Rs. 8 crores for each endorsement.
Film Production and Sports
Amitabh Bachchan founded Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (ABCL), an event management, production, and distribution company, in 1994 which contributes to his income. He further generated income by co-owning OUE Singapore Slammers, an International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) team, in 2015.
Real Estate Investments
Amitabh owns a number of properties in Mumbai, India, and across the globe. He has rented some of his properties in Mumbai. In 2021, he rented a duplex, located on floors 27 and 28 of the Atlantis Building on Lokhandwala Road in Andheri West, for Rs. 10 lakh per month to actor Kriti Sanon for two years. In the same year, Bachchan leased one of his properties in the Juhu Vile Parle Development Scheme (JVPD) to the State Bank of India (SBI) for Rs. 18.90 lakh per month for 15 years.
Investment in Businesses
Amitabh Bachchan has invested in many businesses. In 2013, he purchased a 10% stake in Just Dial, an Indian internet technology company. He has invested in other companies including Stampede Capital (3.4%), a marketing firm, and Meridian Tech Pte Limited, a Singapore-based company offering workforce and consulting services.
Hosting Television Shows
Amitabh Bachchan has worked for over two decades with the Indian game show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati.’ According to reports, he received around Rs. 4 crore to Rs. 5 crore for each episode of Season 14.
NFTs
Amitabh has explored the world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) as well. In 2021, his NFT collection of ‘Madhushala’ was sold for Rs. 7.18 crore. The collection featured his vintage posters autographed by him, his father’s renowned poem Madhushala, and various other works.
Project Charges
Bachchan charges around Rs. 6 crores for one film. He, however, received a pay cheque of Rs. 10 crores for his role in the film ‘Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva’ in 2023.
Assets & Properties
Amitabh bought a plot of approximately Rs. 14.5 crore in The Sarayu, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, in January 2024.
Net Worth
According to an article published in October 2023, Amitabh Bachchan’s net worth was estimated to be around Rs. 3,190 crores.
Facts
- He is ambidextrous and can write well with both hands.
- He once gave audition test in All India Radio but was rejected.
- During his struggling days, a popular comedian Mehmood offered him to stay in his own house.
- He had also spent few nights on a bench at Marine Drive, Mumbai.
- Once director Sunil Dutt signed him for a film Reshma Aur Shera (1971) only because he got a letter of introduction from late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
- He is known for his baritone voice and lent his voice as a narrator to many films like Balika Badhu (1975), Tere Mere Sapne (1996), Lagaan (2001), Parineeta (2005), etc.
- He also sung several songs like Do Lafzon Ki of film The Great Gambler (1979), Mere Pas Aao of film Mr. Natwarlal (1979), Chal Mere Bhai of film Naseeb (1981), Neela Aasman of film Silsila (1981), etc.
- During his peak acting years, Stardust imposed a 15-year press ban against him. Later, he claimed to have banned the press from entering his sets until late 1989.
- Before his first superhit film Zanjeer (1973), he has consecutively given 12 flops.
- He worked in 8 different languages like Hindi, English, Punjabi, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Bhojpuri, and Malayalam.
- He featured in numerous TV commercial advertisements like ICICI, Emami Boro Plus, Eveready, Justdial, Pepsi, Nerolac, Navaratan Oil, Cadbury, Sahara City Homes, Kalyan Jewellers, Maggi, Dabur, etc.
- During the shooting of film Coolie (1983), he was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis after which he suffered a near fatal intestinal injury.
- He used his screen name Vijay in over 20 films.
- He is the first living Asian who have been modeled in wax at London’s Madame Tussauds wax museum in 2000. There are also many other places where his statue was modeled like New York, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Washington, and Delhi.
Amitabh Bachchan statue
- In 2001, he was honored with the Actor of the Century award at the Alexandria International Film Festival held in Egypt for his contribution to cinema.
- The government of French honored him with its highest civilian honor Knight of the Legion of Honour.
- Many things in India are named after him like Amitabh Bachchan Sports Complex, Amitabh Bachchan Road, and Amitabh Bachchan Government Inter College, Saifai.
- In Kolkata, there is a temple made after him where he is worshipped as a God.
Amitabh Bachchan temple
- In 2012, he was named Hottest Vegetarian by PETA India.
- In PETA Asia’s contest poll, he won the Asia’s Sexiest Vegetarian title.
- In 2013, he was conferred with the Honorary Citizenship of the French town of Deauville.
- He had a pet dog, Shanouk, which was a Piranha Dane dog, one of the world’s tallest dog breeds. The dog died in June 2013 after a brief illness.
Amitabh Bachchan with his pet dog, Shanouk
- His first car was a second-hand Fiat.
- Amitabh and his son Abhishek Bachchan holds the Guinness World record for being the only father-son duo to have played reversed roles on-screen in the Bollywood film Paa (2009).
- The famous French director Francois Truffaut called him one-man industry.
- A number of books have been written about him like Amitabh Bachchan: the Legend; To be or not to be: Amitabh Bachchan; AB: The Legend; Amitabh Bachchan: Ek Jeevit Kimvadanti; Amitabh: The Making of a Superstar; Looking for the Big B: Bollywood, Bachchan & Me; and Bachchanalia.
Book on Amitabh Bachchan
- Amitabh also wrote a book Soul Curry for you and me – An Empowering Philosophy That Can Enrich Your Life that was published in 2002.
- He likes collecting pens and has a collection of over a thousand pens.
- His favourite city is Saint Petersburg in Russia.
- His favourite car is Lexus.
Amitabh Bachchan Lexus Car
- There is a temple dedicated to Mr. Bachchan in Tiljala, a neighborhood of South Kolkata. The temple was built by All Bengal Amitabh Bachchan Fans’ Association. The statute of Mr. Bachchan has been crafted in his ‘Sarkar’ avatar by artist Subrata Bose.
Amitabh Bachchan’s Temple in Tiljala, Kolkata
- On 11 July 2020, he took to Twitter to announce that he was tested positive for COVID-19 and had been admitted to the Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai.
T 3590 -I have tested CoviD positive .. shifted to Hospital .. hospital informing authorities .. family and staff undergone tests , results awaited ..All that have been in close proximity to me in the last 10 days are requested to please get themselves tested !
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) July 11, 2020
- On 25 November 2022, following Amitabh Bachchan’s request for an omnibus order protecting his name, image, voice, or any of his characteristics without his consent in any way or form, the Delhi High Court issued an interim order restraining those at large from infringing on his personality rights and publicity rights. Mr. Bachchan’s lawyer, Harish Salve, in a lawsuit of over 900 pages, said,
Someone is using his picture and selling lottery while the other person is using his voice for mobile app. One is using his image to sell G.K. books. I am giving you an idea that what is going on.”
- In the early 1980s, he quit smoking and drinking. He wrote a blog post about his drinking and smoking habits on social media in April 2023. He wrote,
When in job in the City of Joy, the natural curriculum seemed to be in line with that phrase ‘social drinking’ .. I shall not deny the consumption of it, but its reason or resolve in leaving for years and years now, I shall not deliberate .. it is a personal choice and demeanour .. yes I do not .. but why the announce of it.”
In the blog, he added,
As is the case with the cigarette .. in abundance in the years of free, and the sudden and immediate resolve to leave it .. and the way to leave is really quite simple .. chuck that glass of the intoxicant , while in the middle of it and crush the ‘ciggi’ on your lips at the same time and .. sayonara .. the very best way to be in riddance .. not some part time exigencies to stop the use .. its the removal of the cancer at once .. done at the rush of a stroke .. the more the dwindling , the greater the undesired habit of remaining.”
- During one of the episodes of the show Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 15, Amitabh Bachchan revealed that as it was an inter-caste marriage of his parents, many people fought against Harivansh Rai Bachchan, especially when he took Teji Bachchan to Allahabad, where inter-caste marriage was called a sin at the time; however, Sarojini Naidu, who was a big fan of Harivansh Rai Bachchan, supported him during that period. Later, she also introduced them to Jawaharlal Nehru and said “meet the poet and his poetry.” Amitabh Bachchan said,
I am getting a little hesitant to say this but she was also a big fan of my babuji. My babuji had done an intercaste marriage. My maataji Teji was from a Sikh family and when we lived in Allahabad over there gettting married in a different caste was called a sin during that time. So during that time, people fought against my father when he took my mother to Allahabad. So Sarojini Naidu was the first person who consoled him. She introduced him to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who used to live in Anand Bavan in Allahabad. I still remember the way she had introduced my father. She said, ‘meet the poet and his poetry.’
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education