Date of Birth: 11th October, 1942.
Zodiac Sign: Libra.
Nicknames: Big B.
Official Facebook: Amitabh Bachchan
Official Twitter: @SrBachchan
Twitter Fan Clubs: @SrBachchanFC @BachchanFC
Claim to Fame: Being Big B!
Most Famous Dialogue: “Pura naam, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, baap ka naam, Dinanath Chauhan, maa ka naam, Suhasini Chauhan, gaon Mandwa, umar chhattis saal.”
Jaya and Amitabh have been married for more than 40 years! Take a look at their journey together.
Biggest Controversies:
Alleged relationship with Rekha: He will never come out and say anything on it either which way, but the Amitabh-Rekha story remains the most speculated, till today. Allegedly, their romance began on sets of Do Anjaane, and continued through a number of hit films together.
They apparently began spending a lot of time together, which raised eyebrows. But the affair ended in Silsila, when (in an unbelievable casting coup), Rekha starred in a film with both Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan that paralleled their real life.
Press ban
Years ago, Stardust magazine had organized a show and invited Amitabh to be a part of it. However, he was called to a meeting by Dilip Kumar and during this meeting it was discussed that they would not support yellow journalism, and therefore several celebrities boycotted the show.
Later, he did give an interview to Stardust, but was enraged when he found out that it wasn’t a complimentary article. He tried to intervene, but the magazine was already in circulation. Later, during the Emergency, word had it that Amitabh tried to use his connections with the Gandhi family and his influence to get Stardust shut down. To take revenge, several film magazines joined together to ‘ban’ Bachchan, and refused to publish anything about the actor.
This war lasted for 15 years; it wasn’t until Bachchan and the MD of Stardust sat down to talk that matters were finally resolved.
Juiciest Offscreen Quotes:
“I have never been a superstar and never believed in it. For me if there was a superstar its Rajesh Khanna. His body of work, his sense of melody, involvement in music plus his fan following was really of a different league. He is the best superstar-cum-super-actor. The word “superstar” in the Indian film industry was for the first time coined for him.”
“The amount of things I have been through and the remarkable ways in which the body has reacted is just phenomenal. No wonder I became religious, because you don’t know why something’s happening to you and you don’t know how you bounced back.”
“I’m not trained to be an actor. I just enjoy working in films.”
“I resigned [politics] because I do not know how to play petty politics. I did not know back then and I don’t know now either.”
Fun Facts:
- He’s a vegetarian
- He hates the word “Bollywood” and prefers to refer to it as the “Hindi film industry.”
- He’s done playback for several films, including Baghban, Silsila, Toofan.