Amitabh Bachchan Biography

HE'S UNDOUBTEDLY the greatest star of all time. Titles like 'superstar', 'No.l actor' and 'one-man industry' came into existence only during his tenure as the undisputed king of the Hindi screen. The significant part is that the Bachchan mystique was not a temporary wave. It was literally a mass hysteria that lasted for over two decades. And to think the industry had actually refused to acknowledge his presence at one time. The Amitabh success-story is a rather interesting one because he almost didn't become an actor. After trying out various professions like stage acting, radio announcing and working as a sales executive, it was out of sheer job-frustration that he came to Bombay. Only he believed that he had the makings of a fine actor. And he decided to pursue that dream. The first break he got was in K.A. Abbas' 'Saat Hindustani' (1969), a film that is now well-known only because it happened to be the Big B's debut-making venture.The film didn't do him any good and Amitabh's long and laborious struggle began from there. At most places, he was insulted, ridiculed and humiliated over his tall and lanky frame by the same producers who later trailed behind him when he became the Big B. It was Amitabh's severe perseverance that didn't make him give up. One man who gave him the early break was Hrishikesh Mukherjee in 'Anand' (1970). Though the film had the then-superstar Rajesh Khanna in the title role, Amitabh played his part with sincerity and excelled in some scenes. But he was still too unconventional for the film industry. At that time, one person who believed in his capabilities was actress Jaya Bhaduri, who later went on to become his wife. Jaya was a big star then and at the peak of her career, she signed movies like 'Ek Nazar' and 'Abhimaan' with Amitabh, thereby giving his career the much-needed boost. At least the man was visible now and with his compelling portrayals, he had proved that he deserved better treatment. Hrishikesh Mukherjee came to his rescue again when he repeated the Rajesh-Amitabh pair in 'Namak Haram', a film in which Bachchan stole the thunder completely. The same year saw the release of 'Zanjeer', a film that catapulted Amitabh to overnight stardom.'Zanjeer', in which Amitabh played the role of an angry young man, seeking revenge against the killers of his parents, became a cult classic of its times. It changed the focus of Hindi cinema completely. Prior to this, action movies were considered downmarket and B-class. But the success of 'Zanjeer' gave birth to a new genre of cinema. It was almost like the audience was waiting for this change desperately — they were too tired of the sugary melodramas that were being meted out to them. The prevalent social mindset of people at that time, wanting to rebel against the corroding system, also contributed enormously in making the film a success. Incidentally, it was during the making of this film that Amitabh got married to Jaya Bhaduri — a marriage that has lasted for three decades. Sure there were occasional hiccups in the form of Bachchan's tempestuous relationship with co-star Rekha and some other heroines as well but the marriage seems to have survived the crisis. The success of 'Zanjeer' also saw the phenomenal rise of scriptwriters Salim-Javed, who were instrumental in creating and developing the 'an-gry-young-man' persona for Amitabh. In fact, their next film together, Yash Chopra's 'Deewar' finally anchored this image and sashayed Amitabh to the position of the No.l star in the industry.Scripts were now being written with Amitabh in mind. This had never happened with any other hero before. The Salim-Javed team gave Amitabh three other blockbusters, 'Sholay', 'Don' and 'Trishul', thereby clearing all doubts about his supremacy at the box-office. Bachchan, by then, had formed his own coterie consisting of makers like Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra, who gave him some of the most memorable hits of his career. With Desai, Amitabh delivered some major blasters like 'Amar Akbar Anthony' (in which the Bachchan's flair for com- I edy was exploited for the first time), 'Parvarish', 'Suhaag', 'Naseeb', 'Coolie' and 'Mard'. Manmohan Desai explored the light-hearted, frothy side of Amitabh while Prakash Mehra gave vent to Bachchan's intensity. Mehra's hits with Amitabh include 'Hera Pheri', 'Muqaddar Ka Sikandar', 'Laawaris', 'Namak Halal' and 'Sharaabi'. Amitabh was a superstar alright. The Bachchan persona was so forceful that just his mere presence in a film was enough to make it a success. But the star-actor achieved the status of a demi-God in the early-80s, when he had a near-fatal accident on the sets of 'Coolie'. For all the months that he was in hospital, the entire nation prayed for him. For that whole period, there were fans who had shifted bag and baggage to live under Breach Candy Hospital, Bombay, where Amitabh was undergoing treatment. 'Coolie', which was released in 1983, went on to become a rollicking success. But most of the films Amitabh did after that certainly weren't worthy of his presence in them. By the late-80s, the downfall had begun. Films like 'Toofan', 'Jaadugar', 'Main Azaad Hoon', 'Agneepath' (for which he won a National Award), 'Ajooba' and 'Akayla' were all very well hyped-up but they didn't have enough soul. Around the same time, he also tried a stint in politics (as a gesture of support to best friend Rajiv Gandhi) when he stood for elections from home-town Allahabad and even won hands down. But it was a disastrous decision because he could never become a good politician. As an actor, the problem was that Amitabh had started to believe that he could carry off anything. It seemed fine when he was young and at his peak. But after a while, the audience expected him to grow, do something different. Times had changed, the cinema-going audience had changed but Amitabh was still playing the same old tune. In the early-90s, he tried giving his star-status a commercial brand value by initiating his company, Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited. But after an optimistic start, the company failed to sustain and wound up soon due to organizational hindrances. It was through the ABCL banner that Amitabh tried making a comeback on the big screen with movies like 'Mrityudaata' and 'Major Saab' but he failed yet again — the reasons being the same — nobody wanted to see Amitabh as the angry-old-man. Probably the actor has learnt his lesson and is now attempting to do different cinema with younger directors like Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar and Rakesh Mehra, where he intends portraying believable characters. He has now also become a star-father with son Abhishek's grand debut in Hindi movies. Not just that, Amitabh is also hosting a television show.The man is finally accepting and acknowledging the change around him and that itself is atremendous relief. Because surely, we want to see more and better from the greatest superstar of Hindi cinema.