Amitabh Bachchan Biography: Age, Early Life, Career, Films, Family and Awards

Bachchan’s first work in film was as a narrator for Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome (1969), and his first acting role was in Saat Hindustani (1969). He won praise for Anand (1971) opposite Rajesh Khanna, but stardom came with Prakash Mehra’s Zanjeer (1973). As a brooding, righteous policeman he created the “Angry Young Man” image that defined his career. Yash Chopra’s Deewaar (1975) and Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay (1975), one of the most celebrated films in Indian history, made him the country’s biggest star.

Through the late 1970s and 1980s Bachchan starred in hit after hit, including Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Don (1978), Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) and Silsila (1981). On 26 July 1982, while filming a fight scene for Coolie, he suffered a serious abdominal injury that nearly killed him. The nation followed his recovery closely, and when Coolie was released it was a huge success.

In 1984 Bachchan was elected to Parliament from Allahabad for the Indian National Congress, but he resigned three years later. His film Agneepath (1990) won him his first National Film Award for Best Actor. In the 1990s his entertainment company, ABCL, collapsed in heavy debt, and his career slowed. He recovered in 2000 when he began hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The same year he played a stern headmaster in Yash Raj Films’ Mohabbatein.

In his later career Bachchan has taken on character roles and won more National Awards. They came for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black (2005), in which he played the teacher of a deaf and blind girl, for Paa (2009), in which he played a boy with progeria, and for Shoojit Sircar’s comedy Piku (2015). He also starred in the courtroom drama Pink (2016). He has appeared in large-scale films including Brahmāstra (2022) and Kalki 2898 AD (2024), where he played the immortal warrior Ashwatthama, and he made his Tamil debut in Vettaiyan (2024).