Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian actor, playback singer, film producer, television host and former politician who primarily works in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in 1969 with Saat Hindustani,[1] and narrated Mrinal Sen's Bhuvan Shome (1969).[2] He later appeared as Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Anand (1971), for which he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.[2] In 1973, Bachchan played his breakthrough role of Inspector Vijay Khanna in Prakash Mehra's action film Zanjeer. He has since appeared in several films with the character name "Vijay".[3] During the same year, he appeared in Abhimaan and Namak Haraam. For the latter, he received the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He starred along with Shashi Kapoor in Yash Chopra's Deewaar, which earned him widespread critical acclaim and popularity, made him won Filmfare Award for Best Actor nomination. He was cited as the "angry young man" for his roles in Deewaar and Zanjeer.[4] Later he starred in Ramesh Sippy's Sholay (1975), which is considered to be one of the greatest Indian films of all time.[5][6] After appearing in the romantic drama Kabhie Kabhie (1976), Bachchan starred in Manmohan Desai's highest grosser action-comedy Amar Akbar Anthony (1977). He again won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance in the latter. He then played dual roles of Don and Vijay in Don (1978), which again earned him the Filmfare Best Actor Award for the consecutive year. All of them were huge blockbusters.
Bachchan's stardom continued to roar in the early 1980s, and his critically and commercially successful ventures in this period include Dostana (1980), Shaan (1980), Ram Balram (1980), Naseeb (1981), Lawaaris (1981), Kaalia (1981), Yaarana (1981), Satte Pe Satta (1982), Namak Halaal (1982), Khud-Daar (1982), Andha Kanoon (1983) and Coolie (1983). His performances in these films in Dostana and Shakti earned him the nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. He suffered a near-fatal injury while shooting for Coolie.[7] His workload decreased for the upcoming four years (1984–1987), but he found critical and commercial success in Sharaabi (1984), Geraftaar (1985) and Mard (1985). He returned to the screen with the box-office success Shahenshah (1988).[8][9] A year later, Bachchan played the role of gangster Vijay Deenanath Chauhan in Mukul S. Anand's Agneepath (1990) earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor and later starred in Hum (1991), which was a commercial success. Despite being a box-office failure, the former garnered him the National Film Award for Best Actor and has since developed a cult status.[10][11][12] He also earned the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for Hum, following which he took another break from acting.[8] He then played Badshah Khan in Anand's 1992 drama Khuda Gawah, for which he received a civilian award from the President of Afghanistan. Khuda Gawah, released on 8 May 1992, was also a critical and commercial success, and Bachchan's performance was well received both domestically and internationally.[13] In 1996, he started his film production company Amitabh Bachchan Corporation whose first release Tere Mere Sapne (1996) was a box-office hit.[14] Amitabh Bachchan is also known as the "Shahenshah" or "Big B" of Bollywood.[15]
In 2000, Bachchan appeared in a widely acclaimed supporting role in Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein. It won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. During the same year, he made his television debut as the host of the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati.[16] He has since hosted its every season except for the third one. He then went on to play the roles of a short-tempered banker in Aankhen (2002), a disillusioned father in Baghban (2003), and a conflicted cop in Khakee (2004).[17] In 2005, he played the role of a teacher of a blind and deaf girl in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black, for which he received the National Award and the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.[18][19] He received another National Award for Best Actor for playing a progeria patient in R. Balki's Paa (2009). He also portrayed the title character of a friendly ghost in Bhoothnath (2008), and its sequel Bhoothnath Returns (2014);. and played a hypochondriac in the comedy-drama Piku (2015).[20] It earned him his fourth National Film Award for Best Actor, Played the character of man with constipation in Piku.
Bachchan has also narrated several films including Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977), Lagaan (2001), Parineeta (2005), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), Ra.One (2011), and Krrish 3 (2013). He has also performed as a playback singer for films like Laawaris, Silsila, and Baghban.
- ^ "Filmography: Amitabh Bachchan". Hindustan Times. 8 October 2008. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
- ^ a b Gera, Sonal (11 October 2015). "Amitabh Bachchan at 73: An ode to the undisputed 'Shahenshah' of Bollywood". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 28 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ "Amitabh Bachchan aka Vijay". India Today. Archived from the original on 13 November 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ^ "Film legend promotes Bollywood". BBC. 23 April 2002. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ Pandya, Haresh (27 December 2007). "G. P. Sippy, Indian Filmmaker Whose Sholay Was a Bollywood Hit, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ^ "Top 10 Indian Films". British Film Institute. 2002. Archived from the original on 15 May 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
- ^ "Five lessons from Amitabh Bachchan's life". Rediff.com. 14 June 2013. Archived from the original on 8 November 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ^ a b Roy, Gitanjali (7 December 2012). "Amitabh Bachchan: What legends are made of". NDTV. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ^ Denison, Rayna; Mizsei Ward, Rachel (2015). Superheroes on World Screens. University Press of Mississippi. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-62674-674-9. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ Chintamani, Gautam (2014). Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna. HarperCollins. p. 163. ISBN 978-93-5136-340-8. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ Bhattacharya, Roshmila (16 September 2011). "Agneepath to release on Republic Day". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ Sharma, Sanjukta (27 January 2012). "Film Review: Agneepath". Mint. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ Ghanizada (27 August 2013). "Indian film star Amitabh Bachchan cherish Afghanistan memories". The Khaama Press News Agency. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
- ^ Joshi, Sumit. Bollywood Through Ages. Best Book Reads. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-311-67669-6. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ * "Amitabh Bachchan at 73: An ode to the undisputed 'Shahenshah' of Bollywood". The Indian Express. 11 October 2015. Archived from the original on 28 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- ^ "Amitabh's KBC saga". India Today. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ Ray, Arnab (27 January 2004). "Khakee: a rare Bollywood thriller". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ "National awards: Big B, Sarika win top honours". The Times of India. 8 August 2007. Archived from the original on 26 June 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "'Black' wins 12 Filmfare awards Amitabh is Best Actor, Rani Best Actress". The Tribune. 26 February 2006. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
- ^ Nanda, Tanmaya (8 May 2015). "Film Review: Piku is a delightfully brilliant film". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2015.