Mini Biography
Son of well known poet Harivansh Rai
Bachchan and Teji Bachchan. He has a
brother named Ajitabh. He completed his
education from Uttar Pradesh and moved
to Bombay to find work as a film star, in
vain though, as film-makers preferred
someone with a fairer skin, and he was
not quite fair enough. But they did use
one of his other assets - his deep
baritone voice - which was used for
narration and background commentary.
He was successful in being cast in Saat
Hindustani. He got his break in
Bollywood after a letter of introduction
from the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira
Gandhi, as he was a friend of her son,
Rajiv Gandhi. This is how Amitabh made
an entry in Bollywood, starting with
Zanjeer, co-starred with his future wife
Jaya Bhaduri, and since then there has
been no looking back.
He married Jaya Bhaduri, an actress in
her own rights, and they had two
children, Shweta and Abhishek. Shweta
is married, lives a non-filmy life and has
two children.
Being friends with Rajiv Gandhi, got him
to decide to run for seat in the Congress
from his hometown but had to leave
midterm because of controversies,
particularly after Rajiv and he were
implicated in the now infamous "Bofors"
case along with the U.K. based Hinduja
Brothers.
After a four year break, he was back in
the unsuccessful "Mrityudaata", a
comeback which the actor wanted to
forget. Critics written him off but his
career was saved with "Bade Miyan
Chote Miyan". But four flops in 1999 and
incurring debt of over 90 Crores rupees
of his sinking company ABCL saw him at
an all-time low. To make matters worse,
after the defeat of the Congress party,
Amitabh lost considerable political
support, the opposition made him a
target, and his credit rating deteriorated
to such an extent that a leading
nationalized bank, Canara Bank, sued
him for outstanding loans. He did bounce
back, presenting the Indian version of
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire called
"Kaun Banega Crorepati?". After a series
of hits with "Mohabbatein", "Kabhi
Khushi Kabhie Gham..." and "Baghban"
and "Khakee", this elderly Bachchan is
showing no signs of slowing down and
proving the critics wrong once again.
His son, Abhishek, is also an actor by his
own rights.
Amitabh and Jaya were interested in
getting Abhishek married to Karishma,
the daughter of Babita and Randhir
Kapoor, they went through a formal
engagement, but later broke it off.
The former Miss World and Bollywood
actress, Aishwarya Rai, and Abhishek,
were formally engaged on Sunday
January 14, 2007, at the Bachchan
residence in Juhu, Bombay, with the
marriage taking place at the Bachchan
residence on April 20, 2007.
On November 16, 2011, he became a
Dada (Paternal Grandfather) when
Aishwarya gave birth to a daughter in
Mumbai Hospital. He is already a Nana
(maternal grandfather) to Navya Naveli
and Agastye - Shweta's children.
He continues to be one of the busiest
actors and singers in Bollywood as well
as on TV, as can be seen from the
commercials that he appears on,
especially on Sahara One. Looks like
there are no limits for this super-star and
once the "Angry Young Man" of
Bollywood.
