Golden Era of Bollywood: Remembering AMITABH BACHCHAN on his 74th Birthday

Happy Birthday AMITABH BACHCHAN-The Undisputed SHAHENSHAH of Bollywood

There are actors, there are stars, and superstars… And there is only one Amitabh Bachchan.
India has had several successful thespians and insanely popular stars - but nobody who has stayed the course for so long, and towered over the rest as he has (albeit intermittently) for much of his 47-year-long innings.
With his brilliant acting skills and his ability to deliver blockbusters after blockbuster, Bachchan is set for long haul,his recent immortal performance in PINK is an indicator.

Amitabh Bachchan was born on 11th Oct 1942 at Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, His father Harivansh Rai Srivastava (Bachchan) was a well-known Hindi poet and his mother Teji Bachchan was a Punjabi Sikh from Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), Punjab.Initially he was given a name Inqlab by his father inspired by the phrase Inquilab Zindabad popularly used during the Indian independence struggle.However, at the suggestion of fellow poet Sumitranandan Pant, Harivansh Rai changed the boy's name to Amitabh, which means "the light that will never die.

Amitabh did his schooling from Sherwood College Nainital and did graduation from Kirori Mal College Delhi.After that he went to Calcutta for a job.

Young Amitabh with his mother

.His first job was with Shaw Wallace and he later worked as a freight broker for the shipping firm Bird and Co. But considerations of livelihood and a regular pay at the end of the month was no compensation for what the heart desired. By 1968, young Amit had decided to give it all up, He decided to move to bombay to try his luck in Hindi Film industry.
Bombay did not embrace its biggest creation to be with open arms.He was rejected by many for his unconventional looks and great height.Every filmmaker that he approached thought he was too tall at 6 feet 3 inches.
In desperation Amitabh tried to use the one other unique characteristic that he had, his deep baritone. But here too, Bachchan failed. He was rejected by the All India Radio after an audition test.But one fine day he was invited by Mrinal Sen to give his voice in his National Award winning film Bhuwan Shomein 1969.So Amitabh made his debut as a voive narrator.After that his first film Saat Hindustani came.

In 1971 his 6 films were released and in only Anand he got noticed and appreciated, he was given Filmfare Award for best Supporting Actor.
In 1972 his 8 films released,only Bombay To Goa was an average in box office while all other films flopped.

In 1973, Bachchan played the role of Inspector Vijay Khanna in Prakash Mehra's action film Zanjeer. He has since appeared in several films with the character name "Vijay". The same year, he appeared in Abhimaan and Namak Haraam. For the latter, he received the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting ActorIn 1974 came Kasauti,Benaam,Roti kapda Aur makaan and majboor,all these films were successfull.

The year 1975 came with his 2 Blockbuster Films Sholay and Deewar,since then he has become an un disputed king of Bollywood.Every year till 1986 his one or two films were the top grosser of that year.
On 26 July 1982, while filming Coolie,in the University Campus in Bangalore, Bachchan suffered a near fatal intestinal injury during the filming of a fight scene with co-actorPuneet Issar.. He required an emergency splenectomyand remained critically ill in hospital for many months, at times close to death. The public response included prayers in temples and offers to sacrifice limbs to save him, while later, there were long queues of well-wishing fans outside the hospital where he was admitted.

In 1984, Bachchan took a break from acting and briefly entered politics in support of long-time family friend, Rajiv Gandhi. He contested Allahabad's seat of 8th Lok Sabhaagainst H. N. Bahuguna, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and won by one of the highest victory margins in general election history (68.2% of the vote). His political career, however, was short-lived: he resigned after three years, calling politics a cesspool. The resignation followed the implication of Bachchan and his brother in the "Bofors scandal" by a newspaper, which he vowed to take to court. Bachchan was eventually found not guilty of involvement in the ordeal.

In 1988, Bachchan returned to films, 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. The 1991 hit film, Hum, for which he won his third Filmfare Best Actor Award, looked like it might reverse the trend, but this momentum was short-lived.despite the lack of hits, it was during this era that Bachchan won his first National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance as a Mafia don in the 1990 film Agneepath.These years would see his last on-screen appearances for some time. After the release of Khuda Gawah in 1992, Bachchan went into semi-retirement for five years.
In 1997, Bachchan attempted to make his acting comeback with the film Mrityudata, produced by ABCL. Though Mrityudaata attempted to reprise Bachchan's earlier success as an action hero, the film was a failure both financially and critically. ABCL was the main sponsor of the 1996 Miss World beauty pageant, Bangalore but lost millions. The fiasco and the consequent legal battles surrounding ABCL and various entities after the event, coupled with the fact that ABCL was reported to have overpaid most of its top level managers, eventually led to its financial and operational collapse in 1997. The company went into administration and was later declared a failed company by Indian Industries board

In 2000, Bachchan hosted the first season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), the Indian adaptation of the British television game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The show was well received..In the same year he also appeared in Yash Chopra's box-office hit, Mohabbatein, directed by Aditya Chopra. He played a stern, older figure that rivalled the character of Shahrukh Khan. His role won him his third Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. Other hits followed, with Bachchan appearing as an older family patriarch in Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love (2001), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) andBaghban (2003). As an actor, he continued to perform in a range of characters, receiving critical praise for his performances in Aks(2001), Aankhen (2002), Khakee (2004) and Dev (2004). His performance in Aks won him his first Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. One project that did particularly well for Bachchan was Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black (2005). The film starred Bachchan as an ageing teacher of a deaf-blind girl and followed their relationship. His performance was unanimously praised by critics and audiences and won him his second National Film Award for Best Actor, his fourth Filmfare Best Actor Award and his second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. Taking advantage of this resurgence, Amitabh began endorsing a variety of products and services, appearing in many television and billboard advertisements. In 2005 and 2006, he starred with his son Abhishek in the hit films Bunty Aur Babli (2005), the Godfathertribute Sarkar (2005), and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006). All of them were successful at the box office. His later releases in 2006 and early 2007 were Baabul (2006),Ekalavya and Nishabd (2007), which failed to do well at the box office but his performances in each of them were praised by critics.

In 2009 his film PAA released It won him his third National Film Award for Best Actor and fifth Filmfare Best Actor Award. In 2010,
In 2013 he made his Hollywood debut in The Great Gatsby making a special appearance opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. In 2014, he played the role of the friendly ghost in the sequel Bhoothnath Returns. The next year, he played the role of a grumpy father suffering from chronic constipation in Piku. It won him his fourth National Film Award for Best Actor and his third Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.

This year 2016 one of his memorable performance film PINK released on September,the film not only hit but will be remembered for the Powerful Performance of Amitabh Bachchan. His histrionics come primarily in the form of his well-modulated baritone, conveying his emotions and of course, from the well-written lines.
Amitabh Bachchan is known for his deep, baritone voice. He has been a narrator, a playback singer, and presenter for numerous programmes.Renowned film director Satyajit Ray was so impressed with Bachchan's voice that he decided to use Bachchan as the narrator in his 1977 filmShatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players).Bachchan lent his voice as a narrator to the 2001 movie Lagaan which was a super hit. In 2005, Bachchan lent his voice to the Oscar-winning French documentary March of the Penguins, directed by Luc Jacquet
The Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri in 1984, the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015.
Amitabh Bachchan Sports Complex in Allahbad managed by UP Sports Directorate is named after him.Also a road is named after him as Amitabh Bachhan Road in his home town, Allahabad.

There is a temple in Kolkata, where Amitabh is worshipped as a God.The tiles of the temple are adorned with words Jai Shri Amitabh; in place of the idol, you see his photo and a pair of white shoes that the actor wore in his movie, Agneepath

Songs from Amitabh's Films