Amitabh Bachhan is undoubtly the ruling king of Indian cinema, most certainly of the commerical Hindi film. Dearly being called “Amitji” and “Big B” he is the living legend of the film industry. He is still the highest paid and most sought after Bollywood actor today.

Born on 11 october 1942 to Harivansh Rai Bachchan and older of the latter's two sons, Amitabh has been wooing the Indian film industry and viewers for years.His father was an acclaimed Hindi poet, and mother Teji Bachhan a socialite .His father Harivansh Rai Bachchan was considering naming him 'Inquilab' (which means 'revolution') before settling down for Amitabh which means 'brilliance unlimited'. Amitabh went to Sherwood College, a boarding school in the hill-station town of Nainital, and from there to Delhi University where he earned an arts degree. He has a double M.A. (Master of Arts) degree.

He was a shy kid and his father, the great poet Harisvansh Rai Bhachan helped him overcome this, which he says is one of the reasons of his success of his films.

He was a former stage actor, radio announcer and freight company executive in Calcutta, India. He gave up his job as a freight broker for a shipping firm in Calcutta to move to Bombay in 1968. Months of struggle followed. His first appearance was in the movie Saat Hindustani [Seven Indians], which did not do particularly well at the box office.

In his early films like the Hrishikesh Mukherjee Directed Anand (1970) and Namak Haram (1973) or in Saudagar he was presented as a brooding melancholic anti-hero drawn from Bengali Literary stereotypes traceable to novelist Sarat Chandra Chatterjee and brought into Hindi Cinema by Nitin Bose, Bimal Roy and Asit Sen. But Zanjeer changed all that.

With his tall and lean looks, Amitabh became emblematic of the new kind of action hero. Whereas his predecessors such as Rajesh Khanna and Dharmendra played romantic roles, Amitabh introduced the motif of the 'angry young man' to Indian cinema.

The mid-late 70’s was when Amitabh really starting rolling in the hits, especially in 1975 where he released an amazing seven films, none of which flopped. One of these films was Chupke Chupke, which became an eventual super-hit, and proved his flair for comedy roles as well. His next release was the unforgettable Deewar(1975), which furnishes the classic example of the double in the Hindi cinema, he played the role of a mafia don opposite his policeman brother, played by Shashi Kapoor. His next film needs no introduction, as Sholay went on to become a true classic, a movie which people still talk about today. His later releases in the late 70’s were classics such as Amar Akbar Anthony, Kabhi Kabhi, Don, and Trishul. He worked with yerter year stars such as Shashi Kapoor, Jaya Badhuri, Dharmendra, and Vinod Khanna and got a chance to prove his worth working alongside them.Bachchan has worked with actresses like Zeenat Aman (Don (1978), The Great Gambler (1980)), Parveen Babi (Deewaar, Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Kaalia (1981)) or Rekha (Mr. Natwarlal (1979), Suhaag (1979), Silsila (1981)).

During the shooting of the movie Coolie in 1983, he injured himself fatally and had a near brush with death.Following that accident, he suffered internal bleeding and required 18 bottles of blood, he became a champion for the cause of encouraging more people to donate blood.

Yet another factor that went in Bachchan's favour in making him the darling of all sections of the society was his unbelievable versatility. He excelled in all types of scenes be it action, drama, song and dance or comedy and consequently his films began to be a one man variety entertainment show. (Take the comic drunken scene in Amar Akbar Anthony or the drag act in the Mere Angane Mein song from Lawaaris (1981) - Pure 'items!')

By the time our generation rolled around, the 90’s; Amitabh Bachchan had become popular worldwide, by Indians and other cultures. After his four consecutive flops in the late 80’s Mr. Bachchan rolled back with Aaj Ka Arjun and Agneepath. He had a downhill slide when Insaniyaat and Mrityudaata flopped.

He made an unexpected comeback as host of the popular TV quiz series "Kaun Banega Crorepati?" (2000) which put him right back on the number one spot of Bollywood actors over 40.Next came Major Saab and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan which went on to become a hit. In 1999 his films Sooryavansham, Lal Badshaah, Hindustan Ki Kasam, and Kohram all flopped. But he again proved himself in the new century Mohabbatein as it became a super hit, as did his next release Ek Rishtaa.

Nearing the age of sixty, Amitabh Bachchan is the only actor of the older generation that can still light up the big screen. His big release Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham went out to become a Blockbuster of the year 2002. Altogether, Amitabh Bachhan has appeared in over 70 films, many of them, particularly those from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, resounding successes. He is the first Asian actor having a wax model of his likeness displayed at Madame Tussaud's in London, UK Was named Actor of the Millennium in a BBC News Poll ahead of such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, Sir Lawrence Olivier, and Marlon Brando.

He also sung in many movies such as Laawaris, Toofan and Silsila.Singer Sudesh Bhosle dubs his voice for playback songs in many of his movies.

He had a very close association with the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi.In the nineties he showed an interest to join politics and even won the Allahabad Parliament seat, but he couldn't succeed in Politics. He then founded his own company called ABCL but the company soon faced bankruptcy! Next Bachchan launched his career as a pop singer with the album 'Abby Baby' but that flopped too.

Today along with his roaring success in this ‘filmi duniya’ he works with the Indian government's media campaign to publicize the National Immunization Days and encourage people to take their children to be vaccinated against polio and other deadly diseases.

He married Jaya Bhaduri, herself one of the most successful and accomplished actresses in the Hindi cinema, and it is perhaps telling that, quite in the Indian fashion, she ceased to act in Hindi films after their marriage.They have two children Swetha and Abhishek who is a bolly wood actor and have acted in films like Amitabh suffers from asthma.He is known to be a pure vegetarian.

Chhoti si Baat, Chupke Chupke, Deewar, Milli, Sholay, Zameer, Kabhie Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Khoon Pasina, Parvarish, Don, Kasme Vaade, Trishul, Gol Maal, Kaala Pathar, Mr Natwarlal, Muqaddar ka Sikandar, Do aur do Paanch, Kaalia, Lawaaris, Naseeb, Silsila, Yaraana, Namak Halal, Nastik, Satte pe Satta, Andha Kanoon, Coolie, Sharaabi, Mard, Shahenshah, Main Azaad Hoon,Agneepath, Hum, Khuda Gawah, Major Saab .