Amitabh Bachchan ([əmɪtaːbʱ
bəttʃən] (
listen), born Amitabh Harivansh Bachchan on 11
October 1942) is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the
early 1970s as the "angry young man" of
Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a
career spanning more than four decades.[1][2]
Bachchan is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors
in the history of
Indian cinema.[3][4][5]
Bachchan has won numerous
major awards in his career, including three
National Film Awards as
Best Actor - a record he shares with
Kamal Haasan and
Mammootty - and fourteen
Filmfare Awards. He is the most-nominated performer in any major
acting category at Filmfare, with 37 nominations overall. In addition to
acting, Bachchan has worked as a
playback singer,
film producer and
television presenter. He also had a stint in politics in the 1980s.
He has received both the
Padma Shri and the
Padma Bhushan civilian awards from the Indian government.
Early life
Bachchan was born in
Allahabad,
Uttar Pradesh, in north central India. His father,
Harivansh Rai Bachchan, was a
Hindi
poet and his mother,
Teji Bachchan, was a
Sikh from
Faisalabad (now in
Pakistan).[6]
Bachchan was initially named Inquilaab, inspired from the phrase made
famous during the Indian independence struggle,
Inquilab Zindabad, which means "long live revolution". However, at
the suggestion of fellow poet
Sumitranandan Pant, Harivansh Rai changed the name to Amitabh which
means, "the light that would never go off." Though his surname was
Shrivastava, his father had adopted the pen-name Bachchan (meaning
"child-like" in colloquial Hindi), under which he published all his
works. It is with this last name that Amitabh debuted in films, and, for
all public purposes, it has become the surname of all members of his
family. Bachchan's father died in 2003 and his mother in 2007.[7]
Amitabh is the elder of Harivansh Rai Bachchan's two sons, the second
being Ajitabh. His mother had a keen interest in theatre and had been
offered a role in a film, but preferred her domestic duties. She had
some degree of influence in Bachchan's choice of career because she
always insisted that he should take the centre stage.[8]
Career
Early
work: 1969–1972
Bachchan made his film debut in 1969 as a voice narrator in
Mrinal Sen's
National Award winning film
Bhuvan Shome. Thereafter he got his first acting role as one of
the seven protagonists in
Saat Hindustani, a film directed by
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and featuring
Utpal Dutt,
Madhu and
Jalal Agha. Though the film was not a financial success, Bachchan
won his first
National Film Award for Best Newcomer.[9]
Anand (1971) followed, where he starred alongside Rajesh Khanna.
Bachchan's role as a doctor with a cynical view of life garned him his
first
Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. He then played his first
negative role as an infatuated lover-turned-murderer in
Parwaana (1971). This was followed by several films including
Reshma Aur Shera (1971). During this time, he made a guest
appearance in the film
Guddi which starred his future wife
Jaya Bhaduri. He narrated part of the film
Bawarchi. In 1972, he made an appearance in the road action
comedy
Bombay to Goa, directed by
S. Ramanathan. Many of his films during this early period did not do
well, but that was about to change.[10]
Rise to stardom: 1973–1983
Director
Prakash Mehra cast him in the leading role for the film
Zanjeer
(1973) as Inspector Vijay Khanna. The film was a sharp contrast to the
romantically themed films that had generally preceded it and established
Amitabh in a new persona—the "angry young man" of
Bollywood cinema.[2]
Filmfare considers this one of the iconic performances of Bollywood
history.[10]
The film was a huge success and one of the highest grossing films of
that year, breaking Bachchan's dry spell at the box office and making
him a star.[11]
From then onwards, Bachchan became one of the most successful leading
men of the film industry. He earned his first Filmfare nomination for
Best Actor for Zanjeer. The year 1973 was also when he married
Jaya, and around this time they appeared in several films together; not
only in Zanjeer but in films such as
Abhimaan which followed and was released only a month after
their marriage and was also successful at the box office. Later,
Bachchan played the role of Vikram, once again along with Rajesh Khanna,
in the film
Namak Haraam, a social drama directed by
Hrishikesh Mukherjee and scripted by Biresh Chatterjee addressing
themes of friendship. His supporting role won him his second
Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award.[citation
needed]
In 1974, Bachchan made several guest appearances in films such as
Kunwara Baap and
Dost, before playing a supporting role in
Roti Kapda Aur Makaan. The film, directed and written by
Manoj Kumar, addressed themes of honesty in the face of oppression
and financial and emotional hardship and was the top earning film of
1974. Bachchan then played the leading role in film
Majboor, released on 6 December 1974, which was a remake of the
Hollywood film
Zig Zag. The film was a success at the box office.[12]
Two of his other releases that year viz. Kasauti and Benaam also made
money making his success at the box office consistent. In 1975, he
starred in a variety of film genres from the comedy
Chupke Chupke, the crime drama
Faraar
to the romantic drama
Mili. 1975 was the year when he appeared in two films which are
regarded as important in Hindi cinematic history. He starred in the
Yash Chopra directed film
Deewaar, opposite
Shashi Kapoor,
Nirupa Roy, and
Neetu Singh, which earned him a Filmfare Nomination for Best Actor.
The film became a major hit at the box office in 1975, ranking in at
number 4.[13]
Indiatimes Movies ranks Deewaar amongst the Top 25 Must
See Bollywood Films.[14]
Released on 15 August 1975 was
Sholay
(meaning flames), which became the highest grossing film of 1975 and
also of all time in India, earning
INR 2,36,45,00,000 equivalent to US$ 60 million, after adjusting for
inflation.[15]
Bachchan played the role of Jaidev. In 1999,
BBC India
declared it the "Film of the Millennium" and like Deewar, has
been cited by
Indiatimes movies as amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood
Films.[14]
In that same year, the judges of the 50th annual
Filmfare Awards awarded it with the special distinction award called
Filmfare Best Film of 50 Years.
Bachchan starred in comedies such as
Chupke Chupke (1975) and
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) and in films such as
Kabhie Kabhie (1976). In 1976, he was once again cast by
director
Yash Chopra in his second film, Kabhi Kabhie, a romantic tale
in which Bachchan starred as a young poet named Amit Malhotra who falls
deeply in love with a beautiful young girl named Pooja played by actress
Raakhee.
The film was notable for portraying Bachchan as a romantic hero, a far
cry from his "angry young man" roles like Zanjeer and Deewar.
The film evoked a favourable response from critics and audiences alike.
Bachchan was again nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award for his
role in the film. In 1977, he won his first
Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Amar Akbar
Anthony where he played the third lead opposite
Vinod Khanna and
Rishi Kapoor as Anthony Gonsalves. The film was the highest grossing
film of that year. His other successes that year include
Parvarish,
Khoon Pasina and
Adalat.[16]
He once again resumed double roles in films such as Kasme Vaade
as Amit and Shankar and Don playing the characters of Don, a
leader of an underworld gang and his look alike Vijay. His performance
won him his second
Filmfare Best Actor Award. He also gave towering performances in
Trishul and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar both of which earned him
further Filmfare Best Actor nominations. He was billed a "one-man
industry" by the French director
François Truffaut.[17]
In 1979, Bachchan starred in
Suhaag which was the highest earning film of that year. In the
same year he also enjoyed critical acclaim and commercial success with
films like
Mr. Natwarlal and
Kaala Patthar. Amitabh was required to use his singing voice for
the first time in a song from the film Mr. Natwarlal in which he
starred alongside
Rekha.
His performance in the film saw him nominated for both the Filmfare Best
Actor Award and the
Filmfare Best Male Playback Awards. In 1979, he also received Best
Actor nomination for Kaala Patthar (1979) and then went on to be
nominated again in 1980 for the
Raj
Khosla directed film
Dostana, in which he starred opposite
Shatrughan Sinha and
Zeenat Aman. Dostana proved to be the top grossing film of
1980.[18]
In 1981, he starred in Yash Chopra's melodrama film
Silsila,
where he starred alongside his wife Jaya and
Rekha.
Other successful films of this period include
Ram
Balram (1980),
Shaan (1980),
Lawaaris (1981), and
Shakti (1982) which pitted him against legendary actor
Dilip Kumar.[19]
1982
injury while filming Coolie
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-actor
Puneet Issar.[20]
Bachchan was performing his own stunts in the film and one scene
required him to fall onto a table and then on the ground. However as he
jumped towards the table, the corner of the table struck his abdomen,
resulting in a
splenic rupture from which he lost a significant amount of blood. He
required an emergency
splenectomy and 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
recuperating.
Nevertheless, he spent many months recovering and resumed filming later
that year after a long period of recuperation. The film was released in
1983, and partly due to the huge publicity of Bachchan's accident, the
film was a box office success and the top grossing film that year.[22]
The director,
Manmohan Desai, altered the ending of Coolie after Bachchan's
accident. Bachchan's character was originally intended to have been
killed off but after the change of script, the character lived in the
end. It would have been inappropriate, said Desai, for the man who had
just fended off death in real life to be killed on screen. Also, in the
released film the footage of the fight scene is frozen at the critical
moment, and a caption appears onscreen marking this as the instant of
the actor's injury and the ensuing publicity of the accident.
Later, he was diagnosed with
Myasthenia gravis. His illness made him feel weak both mentally and
physically and he decided to quit films and venture into politics. At
this time he became pessimistic, expressing concern with how a new film
would be received and stated before every release, "Yeh film to flop
hogi!" ("This film will flop").[23]
Politics:
1984–87
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 Sabha against
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).[24]
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.[25]
His old friend,
Amar Singh, helped him during a financial crisis due to the failure
of his company ABCL. Therefore Bachchan started to support Amar Singh's
political party, the Samajwadi party. Jaya Bachchan joined the
Samajwadi Party and became a
Rajya Sabha member.[26]
Bachchan has continued to do favors for the Samajwadi party, including
advertisements and political campaigns. These activities have recently
gotten him into trouble again in the Indian courts for false claims
after a previous incident of submission of legal papers by him, stating
that he is a farmer.[27]
A 15 year press ban against Bachchan was imposed during his peak
acting years by
Stardust and some of the other film magazines. In his own
defense, Bachchan claimed to have banned the press from entering his
sets until late 1989.[28]
Slump and retirement: 1988–1992
In 1988, Bachchan returned to films, playing the title role in
Shahenshah, which was a box office success due to the hype of
Bachchan's comeback.[29]
After the success of his comeback film however, his star power began to
wane as all of his subsequent films 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 this trend,
but the momentum was short-lived as his string of box office failures
continued. Notably, despite the lack of hits, it was during this period
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 be the last he would be seen on
screen for some time. After the release of
Khuda Gawah in 1992, Bachchan went into semi-retirement for five
years. With the exception of the delayed release of
Insaniyat (1994) which was also a box office failure, he did not
appear in any new releases for five years.[30]
Producer and acting comeback 1996–99
Bachchan turned producer during his temporary retirement period,
setting up
Amitabh Bachchan Corporation, Ltd. (A.B.C.L.) in 1996, with the
vision of becoming a 10 billion rupees (approx 250 million $US) premier
entertainment company by the year 2000. ABCL's strategy was to introduce
products and services covering the entire section of the India's
entertainment industry. Its operations were mainstream commercial film
production and distribution, audio cassettes and video discs, production
and marketing of television software, celebrity and event management.
Soon after the company was launched in 1996, the first film produced by
the company was
Tere Mere Sapne, which failed to do well at the box office but
launched the careers of actors such as
Arshad Warsi and South films star
Simran. ABCL produced a few other films, none of which did well.
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. The Bombay high court, in
April 1999, restrained Bachchan from selling off his Bombay
bungalow 'Prateeksha' and two flats till the pending loan recovery
cases of
Canara Bank were disposed of. Bachchan had, however, pleaded that he
had mortgaged his bungalow to Sahara India Finance for raising funds for
his company.[31]
Bachchan attempted to revive his acting career and had average
success with
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998),[30]
and received positive reviews for
Sooryavansham (1999)[32]
but other films such as
Lal Baadshah (1999) and
Hindustan Ki Kasam (1999) were box office failures.
Return to prominence: 2000–present
In 2000, Amitabh Bachchan 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) and
Baghban (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). One project that did particularly well for Bachchan
was
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's
Black (2005). The film starred Bachchan as an aging 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 and fourth
Filmfare Best Actor Award. 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
Godfather tribute
Sarkar (2005), and
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006). All of them were successful at
the box office.[33][34]
His later releases in 2006 and early 2007 were
Baabul (2006),[35]
Ekalavya and
Nishabd
(2007), which failed to do well at the box office but his performances
in each of them were praised by critics.[36]
In May 2007, two of his films
Cheeni Kum and the multi-starrer
Shootout at Lokhandwala were released. Shootout at
Lokhandwala did very well at the box office and was declared a hit
in India, while Cheeni Kum picked up after a slow start and only
had average success.[37]
A remake of his biggest hit,
Sholay
(1975), entitled
Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, released in August of that same year and
proved to be a major commercial failure in addition to its poor critical
reception.[37]
The year also marked Bachchan's first appearance in an English-language
film,
Rituparno Ghosh's
The Last Lear. The film premiered at the
2007 Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2007. He
received positive reviews from critics who hailed his performance as his
best ever since Black.[38]
Bachchan was slated to play a supporting role in his first international
film,
Shantaram, directed by
Mira
Nair and starring
Hollywood actor
Johnny Depp in the lead. The film was due to begin filming in
February 2008 but due to the writer's strike, was pushed to September
2008.[39]
The film is currently "shelved" indefinitely.[40]
Vivek Sharma's
Bhoothnath, in which he plays the title role as a
ghost,
was released on 9 May 2008.
Sarkar Raj, the sequel of the 2005 film
Sarkar, released in June 2008 and received a positive response
at the box-office.
Paa, which released at the end of 2009 was a highly anticipated
project as it saw him playing his own son Abhishek's Progeria-affected
13-year-old son, and it opened to favourable reviews, particularly
towards Bachchan's performance. It won him his third
National Film Award for Best Actor and fifth
Filmfare Best Actor Award. In 2010, he debuted in
Malayalam film through
Kandahar, directed by
Major Ravi and co-starring
Mohanlal.[41]
The film was based on the hijacking incident of the
Indian Airlines Flight 814.[42]
Bachchan did not receive any remuneration for this film.[43]
Television career
In the year 2000, Bachchan stepped up to host India's adaptation of
the British television game show,
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? entitled,
Kaun Banega Crorepati. As it did in most other countries where
it was adopted, the program found immediate success. He has hosted all
but one of the seasons of the show.
Canara Bank withdrew its law suit against Bachchan in November 2000.
Bachchan hosted KBC till November 2005, when he fell ill. At that
time he was admitted to
Lilavati Hospital's
ICU once more, to undergo surgery for
diverticulitis of the
small intestine.[44]
During the period and that following his recovery, most of his projects
were put on hold, including KBC.[45]
The show's success set the stage for his return to film popularity. In
2009 Oscar winning movie
Slumdog Millionaire in the first question of
Who Wants to be a Millionaire? contest "Amitabh Bachchan" was
the correct answer to the question "Who was the star of
Zanjeer?
Feroz Abbas Khan performed as Amitabh Bachchan in a scene in the movie
while
Anil Kapoor performed as the host of the contest. Bachchan hosted
the
third season of the reality show
Bigg
Boss in 2009.[46]
Voice
Bachchan is known for his deep, baritone voice. He has been a
narrator, a
playback singer, and presenter for numerous programmes.[citation
needed] Renowned film director
Satyajit Ray was so impressed with Bachchan's voice that he decided
to use Bachchan as the narrator in his 1977
Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players).[47]
In 2005, Bachchan lent his voice to the Oscar-winning French documentary
March of the Penguins, directed by
Luc Jacquet.[48]
Personal life
Bachchan is married to actress
Jaya Bhaduri. They have two children,
Shweta Nanda and
Abhishek Bachchan. Abhishek is also an actor and is married to
actress
Aishwarya Rai.
Barabanki land
case
In the runup to the
Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections, 2007, Bachchan made a film
extolling the virtues of the
Mulayam Singh government. His
Samajwadi Party was routed, and
Mayawati came to power.[citation
needed]
On 2 June 2007 a
Faizabad court ruled that he had legally acquired agricultural land
designated specifically for landless
Dalit
farmers.[49]
It was speculated that he might be investigated on related charges of
forgery,
as he has allegedly claimed he was a farmer.[50]
On 19 July 2007, after the scandal broke out, Bachchan surrendered the
land acquired in
Barabanki in
Uttar Pradesh and
Pune. He
wrote to the chief minister of
Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, to donate the lands that were
allegedly acquired illegally in Pune.[51]
However, the Lucknow Court has put a stay on the land donation and said
that the status quo on the land be maintained.
On 12 October 2007, Bachchan abandoned his claim in respect of the
land at Daulatpur village in
Barabanki district.[52]
On 11 December 2007, the
Lucknow
bench of the
Allahabad High Court gave a clean chit to Bachchan in a case
pertaining to alleged fraudulent allotment of government land to him in
Barabanki district. A single Lucknow bench of Justice said there was no
finding that the actor "himself committed any fraud or manipulated any
surreptitious entry in the revenue records".[53][54]
After receiving a positive verdict in Barabanki case, Amitabh
Bachchan intimated to Maharashtra government that he did not wish to
surrender his land in Maval tehsil of Pune district.[55]
Raj
Thackeray's criticism
Bachchan featured on an advert in shopping mall in India
In January 2008 at political rallies,
Raj Thackeray, the chief of
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, targeted Amitabh Bachchan, asserting
that the actor was "more inclined" towards his native state than
Maharashtra. He expressed his disapproval of Amitabh's inaugurating a
girls' school named after his daughter-in-law, actress
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, at
Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, rather than in Maharashtra.[56]
According to media reports, Raj's censure of Amitabh, whom he admires,
stemmed out of his disappointment of not being invited to Amitabh's son
Abhishek's marriage to Aishwarya, despite invitations to his
estranged uncle Bal and cousin Uddhav.[57][58]
Responding to Raj's accusations, the actor's wife, SP MP Jaya
Bachchan, said that the Bachchans were willing to start a school in
Mumbai, provided the MNS leader donated the land to build it. She told
the media, "I heard that Raj Thackeray owns huge properties in
Maharashtra, in Mumbai—Kohinoor Mills. If he is willing to donate land,
we can start a school in the name of Aishwarya here."[59]
Raj responded to it saying, "Jaya bachchan claims she does not know me
then how come she knows how much property I own?". Amitabh abstained
from commenting on the issue. However, he apologized to Raj for
controversial remarks from Jaya in some other incidence. "[60]
Bal Thackeray refuted the allegations, stating, "Amitabh Bachchan is
an open-minded person, he has great love for Maharashtra, and this is
evident on many occasions. The actor has often said that Maharashtra and
specially Mumbai has given him great fame and affection. He has also
said that what he is today is because of the love people have given him.[citation
needed] The people of Mumbai have always
acknowledged him as an artiste.[citation
needed] It was utter foolishness to make these
parochial allegations against him. Amitabh is a global superstar. People
all over the world respect him. This cannot be forgotten by anyone.
Amitabh should ignore these silly accusations and concentrate on his
acting."[61]
On 23 March 2008, more than a month and half after Raj's remarks,
Amitabh finally spoke out in an interview to a local tabloid saying,
"Random charges are random; they do not deserve the kind of attention
you wish me to give."[62]
Later, on 28 March at a press conference for the
International Indian Film Academy, when asked what his take was on
the anti-migrant issue, Amitabh said that it is one's fundamental right
to live anywhere in the country and the constitution entitles so.[63]
He also stated that he was not affected by Raj's comments.[64]
Awards, honours and recognitions
Apart from
National Film Awards,
Filmfare Awards and other competitive awards which Bachchan won for
his performances throughout the years, he has been awarded several
honours for his achievements in the Indian film industry.[citation
needed] In 1991, he became the first artist to
receive the
Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, which was established in the
name of
Raj
Kapoor. Bachchan was crowned as
Superstar of the Millennium in 2000 at the Filmfare Awards. The
Government of India awarded him with the
Padma Shri in 1984[65]
and the
Padma Bhushan in 2001.[66]
France's highest civilian honour, the Knight of the
Legion of Honour, was conferred upon him by the
French Government in 2007 for his "exceptional career in the world
of cinema and beyond".[67]
In 2011, actor
Dilip Kumar blogged that Black should have been nominated for
an Oscar. Kumar added: "If any Indian actor, in my personal opinion,
deserves the world's most coveted award, it is you."[68]
In 1999, Bachchan was voted the "greatest star of stage or screen" in
a BBC Your
Millenium online poll. The organisation noted that "Many people in
the western world will not have heard of [him] ...[but it] is a
reflection of the huge popularity of Indian films."[69]
In 2001, he was honoured with the Actor of the Century award at the
Alexandria International Film Festival in
Egypt in
recognition of his contribution to the world of cinema.[70]
Many other honours for his achievements were conferred upon him at
several International Film Festivals, including the Lifetime Achievement
Award at the 2010
Asian Film Awards.[71]
In June 2000, he became the first living Asian to have been
immortalised in wax at London's
Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.[72]
Another statue was installed in
New
York in 2009,
[73]
Hong
Kong in 2011,
[74][75]
Bangkok
in 2011[76][77][78]
and
Washington, DC in 2012.[79][80]
In 2003, he was conferred with the Honorary Citizenship of the French
town of
Deauville.[81]
He was honoured with an Honorary Doctorate by the University of
Jhansi,
India, in 2004,[82]
the University of Delhi in 2006,[83]
the
De Montfort University in
Leicester, UK, in 2006,[84]
the University Brandan Foster by the
Leeds Metropolitan University in
Yorkshire, UK, in 2007,[85]
and the
Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, in 2011.[86]
On 27 July 2012, Bachchan was given the due honor to carry the
Olympic torch during the last leg of its relay in in London's
Southwark.[87][88]
Severals books have been written about Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan:
the Legend was published in 1999,[89]
To be or not to be: Amitabh Bachchan in 2004,[90]
AB: The Legend: (A Photographer's Tribute) in 2006
[91]/, Amitabh Bachchan: Ek Jeevit Kimvadanti in 2006,[92]
Amitabh: The Making of a Superstar in 2006,[93]
Looking for the Big B: Bollywood, Bachchan and Me in 2007
[94] and Bachchanalia in 2009.[95]
Bachchan himself also wrote a book in 2002: Soul Curry for you and me
– An Empowering Philosophy That Can Enrich Your Life.[96]
In the early 80s, Bachchan authorized the use of his likeness for the
comic book character
Supremo in a series titled The Adventures of Amitabh Bachchan.[97]
Filmography
Latest films
Producer
Playback singer