Amitabh Bachchan's 71st Birthday

It is 71st Birthday of Amitabh Harivansh Bachchan (born on 11 October 1942) in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh (Father: Harivansh Rai Bachchan, a Hindi poet and Mother: Teji Bachchan, a Sikh from Faisalabad).

While we can Google and Wiki many details about the great legend, Bachchan family offered a big Birthday surprise on his 71st Birthday by exposing Aaradhya Bachchan (daughter of Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan).

 

Let us share some Known / Interesting / Rarely Known Facts about Mr. Bachchan (The Big B):

2. Amitabh Bachchan is ambidextrous hence, can write with both hands equally well.

His father Harivansh Rai Bachchan wanted to name him Inquilab which means 'revolution' but later named him Amitabh which means 'brilliance unlimited'.

Amitabh Bachchan wanted to become an engineer and had even contemplated joining the Indian Air Force at one point of his life.

During his struggling days, Amitabh had spent a few nights on a bench at Marine Drive, Mumbai.

Today he stands at 74 inches or 1.88 m, the tallest-ever top star in Hindi cinema.

During the shooting of the movie 'Khuda Gawah' opposite Sridevi, the, then, President of Afghanistan provided Amitabh with half of his country's air force for protection. The movie was one of the most watched Indian films in the history of Afghanistan. He was offered 21 Gun Salute in Afghanistan.

Amitabh Bachchan has a sharp memory. He never forgets the birthdays or special occassions of his close ones and makes it a point to wish them each year.

For Amitabh Bachchan, the most beautiful actress in the film industry is Waheeda Rahman.

He was the first Asian actor to have a wax model displayed at Madame Tussaud's in London.

Amitabh first met his future wife, Jaya Bhaduri at the FIlm and Television Institute of India, Pune and later on the sets of 'Guddi'.

He was voted 'Star of the Millenium' by BBC Online above legends like Laurence Olivier, Charlie Chaplin and Marlon Brando.  (Entertainment, MensXP.com)

Sunil Dutt signed him for a mute's role in "Reshma Aur Shera" because of a letter of introduction from Indira Gandhi, then prime minister, to her friend Nargis — Amitabh was Rajiv Gandhi's friend.

His baritone voice saw two rejections from the All India Radio. Ameen Sayani, radio ace, turned him down too in Mumbai and is now glad he did so, because had he given him a break, movies might never have happened and Sayani's career (as Sayani now quips) could have been threatened!

In Mumbai, Bachchan frequented a fuel station in his struggling phase. On the day "Anand" was released, he had filled up in the morning. The same evening when he returned for more, everyone recognized him!

Bachchan has acted in two offbeat Hindi films, "Saat Hindustani" (1969) and "Main Azaad Hoon" (1989), and both films have just one song in different parts with a single playback singer. Coincidentally, both songs were written by Kaifi Azmi, and the latter film had Bachchan as the singer.

He is the only top actor, who is not a singing star, to have sung in over 20 films.

Earlier to his full-fledged singing debut in "Mr. Natwarlal," he spoke a few lines in "Humka aisa waisa na samjho" sung by Mukesh in Kalyanji-Anandji's "Adalat" and "My name is Anthony Gonsalves" sung by Kishore Kumar in Laxmikant-Pyarelal's "Amar Akbar Anthony" (both 1977). He sang two more songs with Kishore ("Sharaabi" and "Kaun Jeeta Kaun Haara"), and recorded a song each with Rafi ("Naseeb") and Lata ("Silsila") when "live" recordings were the norm.

The face of the Indian comic book character Supremo is based on him.

He is the only actor who has played God ("God Tussi Great Ho"), Ghost ("Bhoothnath," "Delhi-6") and Genie ("Aladin").

He is the only actor to have had a minimum one jubilee a year from 1971 ("Anand") to 1988 ("Shahenshah"). He had no release in 1987, except for a cameo in the success "Jalwa"!

He has played double roles oftener than anyone else, in "Bandhe Hath" (1972), "Adalat" (1977), "Don" and "Kasme Vaade" (1978), "The Great Gambler" (1979), "Bemisaal","Desh Premee" and "Satte Pe Satta" (1982), "Aakhree Raasta" (1986), "Toofan" (1989), "Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan" (1998) and "Lal Baadshah" (1999) and "Sooryavansham" (1999). In "Mahaan" (1983) he had a triple role.

Amitabh-Jaya is the only real-life couple to have starred on-screen for 30 years from "Ek Nazar" to "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…"(2001), a film released 28 years after their marriage.

Amitabh now plays the son (!) of Abhishek Bachchan in "Paa."

Amitabh and son Abhishek Bachchan have played unrelated characters in "Bunty Aur Babli," "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" and "Shootout…" — in the last, they never shared a frame — and father and son in "Sarkar," "Sarkar Raj," "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna." They also starred in "Ek Ajnabee" in which Abhishek made a cameo. Bachchan played Abhishek's grandfather in "Delhi-6." In both they never shared frames.

He is the only actor to have starred in a kind of remake of his own film as hero, "Sholay," in a different role: he was the villain in "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag." He starred in two different films called "Deewaar," in 1975 and 2004.

A. R. Rahman has scored music for three films in which he was involved, but has never composed a song for him. Besides it, R.D. Burman, Bappi Lahiri (in a few recited lines only), Amar-Utpal, Shiv-Hari, Aadesh Shrivastava, Anu Malik, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Vishal-Shekhar, Vishal Bhardwaj, Indrajit Sharma and Usha Khanna have also made him sing. Jatin-Lalit's song in "Aankhen" was scrapped.

His first English film "Boom" (2003) saw him get a vicious feedback from his fans for his lecherous role. The same was repeated with "Nishabd."

He was to do films that never took off — "Lambuji Thinguji" and "Jaahil" respectively — with Amjad Khan and Kader Khan as directors.

The above song, "Rang barse" from "Silsila" and some lyrics from "Alaap" were penned by his father, Dr. Harvanshrai Bachchan.

Starting with "Bhuvn Shome" (1969) even before he turned actor, "Bawarchi" (1972) and "Shatranj Ke Khiladi" (1976), Bachchan has been narrator in over a dozen films, including an international project, "La marche de l'empereur" (2005), a documentary on penguins.

He doesn't drink tea or coffee and even avoid smoking and alcoholic drinks. He also avoids all kind of sweets and has no liking for them any more.

Amitabh Bachchan is a vegetarian and his favorite food is Aloo Puri, Pakodas, Dhoklas and Parathas. Also he loves to eat Gulabjabuns. Amitabh Bachchan won the title of Hottest Vegetarian Alive in a 'People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' (PETA) poll.

Amitabh Bachchan wrote his first poem when he was hospitalized in 1982. The poem got published in Dharam Yug because its editor Dr. Dharamvir Bharati, who was also a great writer, was a family friend of the Bachchans.

Two things that he simply cannot do without are his laptop and mobile. He loves to stay connected.

Ironically, when Amitabh was passing from his career's best time he refused to endorse any products.

He first used the onscreen name Vijay in 1973 (Zanzeer) and used this name for 21 different movies.

It was in 1984 when the super star decided to enter politics. Big B contested the Lok Sabha election from Allahabad on a Congress ticket. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who had a short political stint during the 1980s, says he quit politics as people questioned his "harmless social service".

Amitabh Bachchan filmography (from Wikipedia)

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1969	Saat Hindustani	Anwar Ali	Winner, National Film Award for Best Newcomer
	Bhuvan Shome	Commentator (Voice)
1971	Parwaana	Kumar Sen
	Anand	Dr. Bhaskar Bannerjee/Babu Moshai	Winner, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
	Reshma Aur Shera	Chhotu
	Bombay Talkie	Mourner In Funeral (Uncredited)
	Guddi	Himself
	Pyar Ki Kahani	Ram Chandra
1972	Sanjog	Mohan
	Bansi Birju	Birju
	Piya Ka Ghar		Guest appearance
	Ek Nazar	Manmohan Akash Tyagi
	Bawarchi	Narrator
	Raaste Kaa Patthar	Jai Shankar Rai
	Bombay to Goa	Ravi Kumar
1973	Bada Kabutar		Guest appearance
	Bandhe Haath	Shamu & Deepak	Double role
	Zanjeer	Inspector Vijay Khanna	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Gehri Chaal	Ratan
	Abhimaan	Subir Kumar
	Saudagar	Moti
	Namak Haraam	Vikram (Vicky)	Winner, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
1974	Kunwara Baap	Augustine	Guest appearance
	Dost	Anand	Guest appearance
	Kasauti	Amitabh Sharma (Amit)
	Benaam	Amit Srivastav
	Roti Kapda Aur Makaan	Vijay
	Majboor	Ravi Khanna
1975	Chupke Chupke	Sukumar Sinha/Parimal Tripathi
	Faraar	Rajesh (Raj)
	Mili	Shekhar Dayal
	Deewar	Vijay Verma	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Zameer	Baadal/Chimpoo
	Sholay	Jai (Jaidev)
1976	Do Anjaane	Amit Roy/Naresh Dutt
	Chhoti Si Baat		Special appearance
	Kabhie Kabhie	Amit Malhotra	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Hera Pheri	Vijay/Inspector Hirachand
1977	Alaap	Alok Prasad
	Charandas	Qawwali singer	Special appearance
	Amar Akbar Anthony	Anthony Gonzalves	Winner, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Shatranj Ke Khilari	Narrator
	Adalat	Dharma/& Raju	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award. Double role
	Immaan Dharam	Ahmed Raza
	Khoon Pasina	Shiva/Tiger
	Parvarish	Amit
1978	Besharam	Ram Kumar Chandra/ Prince Chandrashekar
	Ganga Ki Saugandh	Jeeva
	Kasme Vaade	Amit/Shankar	Double role
	Trishul	Vijay Kumar	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Don	Don/Vijay	Winner, Filmfare Best Actor Award. Double role
	Muqaddar Ka Sikandar	Sikandar	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
1979	The Great Gambler	Jay/Inspector Vijay	Double role
	Gol Maal	Himself	Special appearance
	Jurmana	Inder Saxena
	Manzil	Ajay Chandra
	Mr. Natwarlal	Natwarlal/Avtar Singh	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award & Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
	Kaala Patthar	Vijay Pal Singh	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Suhaag	Amit Kapoor
1980	Do Aur Do Paanch	Vijay/Ram
	Dostana	Vijay Varma	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Ram Balram	Inspector Balram Singh
	Shaan	Vijay Kumar
1981	Chashme Buddoor		Special appearance
	Commander	Raj
	Naseeb	John Johnny Janardhan
	Barsaat Ki Ek Raat	ACP Abhijeet Rai
	Walayati Babu	Jagga	Special appearance
	Lawaaris	Heera	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Silsila	Amit Malhotra	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award, Rang Barse Bhige Chunar Wali
	Yaraana	Kishan Kumar
	Kaalia	Kallu/Kaalia
1982	Satte Pe Satta	Ravi Anand & Babu	Double role
	Bemisal	Dr. Sudhir Roy & Adhir Roy	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award. Double role
	Desh Premee	Master Dinanath & Raju	Double role
	Namak Halaal	Arjun Singh	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Khud-Daar	Govind Srivastav/Chotu Ustad
	Shakti	Vijay Kumar	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
1983	Nastik	Shankar (Sheru)/Bhola
	Andha Kanoon	Jan Nissar Akhtar Khan	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. Guest appearance
	Mahaan	Rana Ranveer, Guru, & Inspector Shankar	Triple role
	Pukar	Ramdas/Ronnie
	Coolie	Iqbal A. Khan
Film Hi Film	Jengo / Guru	Uncredited (archive footage)
1984	Inquilaab	Amarnath
	Sharaabi	Vicky Kapoor	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
1985	Geraftaar	Insp. Karan Kumar Khanna
	Mard	Raju "Mard" Tangewala	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
1986	Aakhree Raasta	David/Vijay	Double role
1987	Jalwa	Himself	Special appearance
	Kaun Jeeta Kaun Haara	Himself	Guest appearance
1988	Soorma Bhopali		Guest appearance
	Shahenshah	Inspector Vijay Kumar Srivastav / Shahenshah	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Hero Hiralal	Himself	Special appearance
	Ganga Jamuna Saraswati	Ganga Prasad
1989	Batwara	Narrator
	Toofan	Toofan & Shyam	Double role
	Jaadugar	Goga/Gogeshwar
	Main Azaad Hoon	Azaad
1990	Agneepath	Vijay Deenanath Chauhan	Winner, National Film Award for Best Actor Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Krodh		Special appearance
	Aaj Ka Arjun	Bheema
1991	Hum	Tiger/Shekhar	Winner, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Ajooba	Ajooba/Ali
	Indrajeet	Indrajeet
	Akayla	Inspector Vijay Verma
1992	Khuda Gawah	Baadshah Khan	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
1994	Insaniyat	Inspector Amar
1996	Tere Mere Sapne	Narrator
1997	Mrityudata	Dr. Ram Prasad Ghayal
1998	Major Saab	Major Jasbir Singh Rana
	Bade Miyan Chote Miyan	Inspector Arjun Singh & Bade Miyan	Double role
1999	Lal Baadshah	Lal "Baadshah" Singh & Ranbhir Singh	Double role
	Sooryavansham	Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh & Heera Singh	Double role
	Hindustan Ki Kasam	Kabeera
	Kohram	Col. Balbir Singh Sodi (Devraj Hathoda) & Dada Bhai
	Hello Brother	God (voice)
	Biwi No.1		Guest Appearance
2000	Mohabbatein	Narayan Shankar	Winner, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
2001	Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love	Vijay Kapoor
	Lagaan	Narrator
	Aks	Manu Verma	Winner, Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...	Yashvardhan "Yash" Raichand	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
2002	Aankhen	Vijay Singh Rajput	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
	Hum Kisise Kum Nahin	Dr. Rastogi
	Agni Varsha	Indra (God)	Special Appearance
	Kaante	Yashvardhan Rampal/"Major"	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
2003	Khushi	Narrator
	Armaan	Dr. Siddharth Sinha
	Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost	Narrator
	Boom	Bade Mia
	Baghban	Raj Malhotra	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Fun2shh	Narrator
2004	Khakee	D.C.P. Anant Kumar Shrivastav	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Aetbaar	Dr. Ranveer Malhotra
	Rudraksh	Narrator
	Insaaf	Narrator
	Dev	DCP Dev Pratap Singh
	Lakshya	Col. Sunil Damle
	Deewaar	Maj. Ranvir Kaul
	Kyun! Ho Gaya Na...	Raj Chauhan
	Hum Kaun Hai	Major Frank John Williams & Frank James Williams	Double role
	Veer-Zaara	Chaudhary Sumer Singh	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. Special appearance
	Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo	Major General Amarjeet Singh
2005	Black	Debraj Sahai	Double-Winner, Filmfare Best Actor Award & Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. Winner, National Film Award for Best Actor
	Waqt: The Race Against Time	Ishwarchandra "Ishwar" Sharawat
	Bunty Aur Babli	D.C.P. Dashrath Singh	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
	Parineeta	Narrator
	Paheli	Gadariya	Special appearance
	Sarkar	Subhash Nagre/"Sarkar"	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Viruddh... Family Comes First	Vidhyadhar Patwardhan
	Ramji Londonwale	Himself	Special appearance
	Dil Jo Bhi Kahey	Shekhar Sinha
	Ek Ajnabee	Suryaveer Singh
	Amrithadhare	Himself	Special appearance Kannada film
2006	Zamaanat	Shiv Shankar	Delayed, Filmed in 1997
	Family — Ties of Blood	Viren Sahi
	Darna Zaroori Hai	Professor
	Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna	Samarjit Singh Talwar aka Sexy Sam)	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
	Baabul	Balraj Kapoor
2007	Eklavya: The Royal Guard	Eklavya
	Nishabd	Vijay
	Cheeni Kum	Buddhadev Gupta
	Shootout at Lokhandwala	Dingra	Special Appearance
	Jhoom Barabar Jhoom	Sutradhar	Special Appearance
	Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag	Babban Singh
	Om Shanti Om	Himself	Special Appearance
2008	Jodhaa Akbar	Narrator
	Bhoothnath	Bhoothnath (Kailash Nath)
	Sarkar Raj	Subhash Nagre/"Sarkar"
	The Last Lear	Harish Mishra	Winner, Stardust Best Actor Award
	God Tussi Great Ho	God
	Yaar Meri Zindagi	Dr. Ajay Singh	Delayed, Released after 37 years
2009	Delhi-6	Dadaji	Special Appearance
	Aladin	Genius
	Paa	Auro	Winner, National Film Award for Best Actor Winner, Filmfare Best Actor Award
2010	Rann	Vijay Harshwardhan Malik
	Mr. Bhatti On Chutti		Special Appearance
	Teen Patti	Venkat Subramanium
	Kandahar	Lokanathan Sharma	Malayalam film
2011	Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap	Viju	Directed by Puri Jagannadh
	Aarakshan	Prabhakar Anand
2012	Department	Sarjerao Gaikwad
	Taalismaan	Taalismaan	Release delayed since 2010
	Bol Bachchan	Himself	Special Appearance in song "Bol Bachchan"
	Power		Filming
	The Great Gatsby	Meyer Wolfsheim	Hollywood Debut Cameo appearance[1] Expected 25 Dec 2012[2]
2013	Shoebite	John Periera	Delayed, Yet to be released
	Buddha		Pre-production
	Shantaram		Pre-production
	Aankhen 2	Vijay Singh Rajput	Announced
	Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap 2		Announced[3]