and has since become one of the most prominent figures in thehistory of Indian cinema.Bachchan has won numerousmajor awards in his career, including three National Film Awards and twelve Filmfare Awards. He holds the record for most number of Best Actor nominations at the Filmfare Awards. In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a playback singer ,film producer andtelevision presenter ,and was an elected member of theIndian Parliament from 1984 to 1987. Bachchan is married to actress Jaya Bhaduri. They have two children,Shweta Nandaand Abhishek Bachchan.Abhishek is also an actor and is married to actressAishwarya Rai.

Early life

Born in Allahabad,Uttar Pradesh,Amitabh Bachchan hails from aHindu family. His father, Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchanwas a well-knownHindipoet, while his mother,Teji Bachchan was aSikh fromFaisalabad(now inPakistan

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Bachchan was initially namedInquilab, inspired from the phraseInquilab Zindabad,during the Indian independence struggle, but was re-christened Amitabh which means, "the light that would never go off."Though his surname wasShrivastava, his father had adopted the pen-name Bachchan,under which he published all his works. It is with this last name that Amitabh debuted infilms, and, for all public purposes, it has become the surname of all members of hiscurrent family.Amitabh is the elder of Harivansh Rai Bachchan's two sons, the second being Ajitabh.His mother had a keen interest in theatre and had been offered a role in a film, but preferred her domestic duties. She had some degree of influence in Bachchan's choice of career because she always insisted that he should take the centre stage.

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He attendedAllahabad'sJnana Prabodhini and Boys' High School(BHS), followed by Nainital's Sherwood College, where he majored in the art stream. He later went on to study atKirori Mal Collegeof theUniversity of Delhiand completed a Bachelor of Science degree. In his twenties, Bachchan gave up a job as freight broker for the shipping firm,Bird and Co., based inCalcutta now known as Kolkata, to pursue a career in acting. He married actressJaya Bhadurion June 3, 1973, according to Bengalirites. The couple has two children: daughter Shwetaand sonAbhishek .

[edit] Career

[edit] Early work 1969-1972

Amitabh Bachchan in

Anand

(1970)

The image above is proposed for deletion. Seefiles for deletionto help reach a consensus on what to do.

This content has an uncertain copyright status and is pending deletion. You cancomment on its removal.Bachchan made his film debut in 1969 as one of the seven protagonists in

Saat Hindustani

, a film directed byKhwaja Ahmad Abbas and featuringUtpal Dutt,Madhu and Jalal Agha. Though the film was not a financial success, Bachchan won his first National Film Awardfor

Best Newcomer

[5]

The critically acclaimed and commercially successful

Anand

(1971) followed, where hestarred alongsideRajesh Khanna. Bachchan's role as a doctor with a cynical view of lifegarned him aFilmfare Best Supporting Actor Award.Amitabh then played the role of an infatuated lover in

Parwaana

(1971) opposite Navin Nischol, Yogeeta Baliand Om Prakashand was a rare instance of him portraying the villain. This was followed byseveral films which were not particularly successful at the box office including

Reshma Aur Shera

(1971). During this time, he made a guest appearance in the film

Guddi

whichstarred his future wifeJaya BhadurioppositeDharmendra.Noted for his deep baritone voice early on in his career, he narrated part of the film

Bawarchi

.In 1972, he made anappearance in the road action comedy

Bombay to Goa

, directed by S. Ramanathan.He starred alongside actors such asAruna Irani,Mehmood, Anwar Aliand Nasir Hussain.

[edit] Rise to Stardom 1973-1983

1973 saw significant development in Bachchan's career when director Prakash Mehra cast him in the leading role for the film

Zanjeer

(1973) as Inspector Vijay Khanna. Thefilm was a sharp contrast to the romantically themed films that had generally preceded itand established Amitabh in a new persona — the "angry young man" of Bollywood cinema,

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a reputation he was to acquire in pictures that followed it. It was his first filmas the leading protagonist to achieve box office success and earned him a Filmfare Nomination for Best Actor. 1973 was also the year he married Jaya and around this timethey appeared in several films together, not only in

Zanjeer

but in films such as

Abhimaan

which followed and was released only a month after their marriage. Later,Bachchan played the role of Vikram in the film

Namak Haraam

,a social drama directed byHrishikesh Mukherjeeand scripted by Biresh Chatterjee addressing themes of friendship. His supporting role oppositeRajesh Khannaand Rekhawas praised and won him the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award.

In 1974, Bachchan made several guest appearances in films such as

Kunwara Baap

and

Dost

, before playing a supporting role in the highest grossing film of that year,

Roti Kapda Aur Makaan

. The film, directed and written by Manoj Kumar , addressed themes of honesty in the face of oppression and financial and emotional hardship was a criticaland commercial success, placing Amitabh opposite Kumar himself, Shashi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman.Bachchan then played the leading role in film

Majboor

,released onDecember 6, 1974, which was a remake of the Hollywoodfilm

Zigzag

starringGeorgeKennedy.The film was only a moderate success at the box office

[6]

In 1975, he starred ina variety of film genres from the comedy

Chupke Chupke

,the crime drama

Faraar

to theromantic drama

Mili

. However 1975 was the year when he appeared in two films whichare regarded as important in Hindi cinematic history. He starred in theYash Chopra directed film

Deewar

, oppositeShashi Kapoor , Nirupa Roy, and Neetu Singh, which earned him a Filmfare Nomination for Best Actor. The film became a major hit at the boxoffice in 1975, ranking in at number 4.

[7]

Indiatimes Movies

ranks

Deewaar

amongst the

Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films

[8]

Released on August 15, 1975 was

Sholay

(meaningflames), which became the highest grossing film of all time in India, earningRs. 2,36,45,00,000 equivalent to US$ 60 million, after adjusting for inflation.

[9]

Bachchan played the role of Jaidev opposite a cast which included some of the top names in theindustry includingDharmendra,Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar , Jaya BhaduriandAmjad Khan. In 1999,BBCIndia declared it the "Film of the Millennium" and like

Deewar

, has been cited by

Indiatimesmovies

as amongst the

Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films

[8]

Inthat same year, the judges of the 50th annualFilmfare awardsawarded it with the specialdistinction award called Filmfare Best Film of 50 Years.After the success of films such as

Sholay

at the box office, Bachchan had now consolidated his position in the industryand from 1976 through to 1984 would receive an unprecedented number of Filmfare BestActor Award Awards and nominations. Although films such as Sholay cemented his statusas Bollywood's pre-eminent action hero, Bachchan illustrated that he was flexible in other roles, successfully playing the romantic lead, in films such as

Kabhie Kabhie

(1976) andcomic timing in comedies such as

Amar Akbar Anthony

(1977) and earlier, in

ChupkeChupke

(1975). In 1976, he was once again cast by director Yash Choprain his secondfilm,

Kabhi Kabhie

, a romantic tale in which Bachchan starred as a young poet namedAmit Malhotra who falls deeply in love with a beautiful young girl named Pooja played by actressRakhee Gulzar .The emotional eclectic of the dialogue and softness of the subject matter proved a direct contrast to some of Amitabh's earlier grittier action picturesand those he would later go on to play. The film saw him again nominated for theFilmfare Best Actor Award and was a box office success. In 1977, he won the FilmfareBest Actor Award for his performance in

Amar Akbar Anthony

where he played the thirdlead oppositeVinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor as Anthony Gonsalves. 1978 was possibly the most accoladed year of his career and he starred in all four of the highest grossingfilms of India in that year.

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He once again resumed double roles in films such as

KasmeVaade

as Amit and Shankar and

Don

playing the characters of Don, a leader of anunderworld gang and his look alike Vijay. His performance won him the Filmfare BestActor Award and considerable critical acclaim as with his performances in

Trishul

and

Muqaddar Ka Sikander

which both earned him further Filmfare Best Actor nominations.On account of this unprecedented run and success he encountered at this stage in hiscareer, he was billed a "one-man industry" by the French director François Truffaut.

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