#GoldenFrames: Amitabh Bachchan, whose voice resonates with his personality in Indian cinema | Photogallery
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Amitabh Bachchan is regarded as one of the most successful and influential actors in the history of Indian cinema. From earning a ₹500 salary once to a seven-figure salary today—the actor charges around ₹6 crores for a film, and he charges ₹5 crores for brand endorsements. His current net worth is Rs 3,396 crore. Bachchan has won four National Film Awards as Best Actor, the Dadasaheb Phalke’s lifetime achievement award and many awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies. He has won sixteen Filmfare Awards and is the most nominated performer in any major acting category at Filmfare, with 42 nominations overall. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1984, the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015 for his contributions to the arts. Furthermore, the Government of France honoured him with its highest civilian honour, the Knight of the Legion of Honour, in 2007 for his exceptional career in the world of cinema and beyond.
(BCCL)
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Amitabh Bachchan was born on October 11, 1942, in Allahabad to the Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and social activist Teji Bachchan. The actor has a younger brother, Ajitabh, who is five years younger than him. Amitabh’s family surname was Shrivastava, but his father, who opposed the caste system, had adopted the pen name Bachchan which means “child-like” in colloquial Hindi. While a renowned poet Sumitranandan Pant suggested the name Amitabh.
(BCCL)
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Amitabh Bachchan’s secondary education was at Boys’ High School & College in Allahabad and Sherwood College in Nainital. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Kirori Mal College at the University of Delhi in New Delhi.
(BCCL)
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Amitabh Bachchan applied for a role as a newsreader for All India Radio, Delhi but failed the audition. Then he worked as a business executive for Bird & Company in Kolkata. Before starting his film career, Amitabh worked in the theatre.
(BCCL)
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Bachchan made his movie debut in 1969, as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen’s National Award-winning movie ‘Bhuvan Shome’ (1969). While his first acting role was as one of the seven protagonists in the movie ‘Saat Hindustani’ (1969).
(BCCL)
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Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Anand’ (1971) alongside Rajesh Khanna got him his first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He then played an antagonist role as an infatuated lover-turned-murderer in ‘Parwana’ (1971). Amitabh made a guest appearance in the movie ‘Guddi’ (1971), which starred his future wife, Jaya Bhaduri. The actor also narrated part of Rajesh Khanna-starrer ‘Bawarchi’. Amitabh appeared in the road action comedy ‘Bombay to Goa’ (1972), a movie that people still love to watch!
(BCCL)
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Amitabh Bachchan had his fair share of failures. By 30, he had twelve flops and only two hits—’Bombay to Goa’ and ‘Anand’. The actor continued to pursue with determination and gave several hits after that—such as ‘Bandhe Hath’ (1973), Zanjeer (1973), Deewaar (1975), Sholay (1975) and many more.
(BCCL)
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Bachchan had reached superstardom by the 80s, but faith had its own plans. On 26 July 1982, while filming a fight scene with co-actor Puneet Issar for ‘Coolie’ (1983), Bachchan had a near-fatal intestinal injury. He was performing his own stunts in the movie, and one scene required him to fall onto a table and then onto the ground. However, when he jumped towards the table, the corner of the table struck his abdomen, resulting in a splenic rupture. He lost a significant amount of blood. The actor required an emergency splenectomy and remained critically ill in the hospital for many months, at times close to death. Long queues of well-wishing fans were outside the hospital where he was recovering.
(BCCL)
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The director, Manmohan Desai, altered the ending of ‘Coolie’. Bachchan’s character was initially intended to have been killed off, but after the script change, the character lived in the end. Desai felt it would have been inappropriate for the man who had just fended off death in real life to be killed on screen. The footage of the fight scene is frozen at the critical moment, and a caption appears onscreen, marking it as the instant of the actor’s injury. Bachchan resumed filming later that year after a long period of recuperation. The movie was released in 1983, and partly due to the massive publicity of Bachchan’s accident, the movie was a box office success and the top-grossing movie of that year.
(BCCL)
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Bachchan attempted to make his acting comeback with the movie ‘Mrityudata’ in 1997, produced by ABCL. The actor wanted to reprise his earlier success as an action hero, but the movie was a financial and critical failure. ABCL was the main sponsor of the 1996 Miss World beauty pageant, Bangaluru, but lost millions. The consequent legal battles and fiasco surrounding ABCL eventually led to its operational collapse and financial in 1997. ABCL went into administration, and was later declared a failed company by the Indian Industries board.
(BCCL)
