Amitabh - The name that defines the personality of this megastar as well - The light that will never die. Amitabh, initially named Inquilab Shrivastava, is the son of Lt. Harivansh Rai Bachchan, a poet and - Lt. Teji Bachchan, a Social Activist. He was born on 11 October 1942 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh and also has a younger brother, Ajitabh Bachchan.
Mr. Bachchan is an alumnus of Sherwood College, Nainital. He later attended Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. He is a BSc student then how did he move to the entertainment industry? Who inspired him to be an actor? Like the proverb says, “Behind every great man is a great woman” and over here the reason was again a woman, HIS MOTHER. She was very fond of theatre and even bagged few roles for herself, however at that moment she chose to make family and home her priority. So instead, she insisted Amitabh to pursue his career in acting. And soon he began to dream about the world of limelight.
But it wasn’t a dream that came true overnight, it took him years to become Big B from Amitabh Bachchan. He began his acting career in 1969 by starring in Saat Hindustani, followed by Anand (1971) for which he even received a Filmfare award. But soon after that, many of his movies didn’t do well and were declared box office failures. By the age of 30, he had twelve flops and only two hits. None of the flops could stop his determination to achieve what he wanted and finally he bagged three major hits - Zanjeer, from where he got the title of ‘ANGRY YOUNG MAN’, Deewar and Sholay and the rest is history.
We, as fans, focus on one side of the story – their fame and stardom but we fail to see the struggles they faced behind the curtain of REEL life. We forget that just like life every career, every success story has their ups and downs, their failures, hardships and hurdles!
But when you give it all your heart and soul then you get what you actually deserve. “Koi bhi lakshaya manushya ke saahas se bada nahi, haara wahi jo ladaa nahi” - Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan always been determined about his career ever since he started acting. He even faced near-death experience in 1983 while shooting for Coolie, for which he was critical in hospital for months, but his will to survive and his fans’ prayers brought him back. He was later diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, an illness which made him suffer both mentally and physically. After which he decided to leave the film-industry and move to politics. After giving 3 years of his life to politics, he returned to the industry in 1987 with Shahenshah, only to see more ups and downs in his career. After struggling constantly for the next 5 years he took a break and started his own Production House in 1996 - Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (ABCL), which collapsed just after one year and made him face almost bankruptcy. He finally made his fourth and last comeback in the industry in 1998, gave three hits and two flops. His father’s words reminded him not to stop and that is what kept him going - Koshish karnewalon ki haar nahi hoti.. In the year 2000, Amitabh made his first appearance in television via Kaun Banega Crorepati as a crusader-anchor which revived his career entirely and proved as a game changer in his life. The first episode was aired on July 3, 2000 and sooner it became a ritual of every house that at 9pm everyone would be sitting in front of their Television sets to see “Kaun Banega Crorepati, a show that changed the life’s of many”
Even after 20 years the show has only gone beyond year after year.Recently Mr.Bachchan opened the season 12 show with these beautiful lines, right after being recovered from the deadly Covid-19, shows that words like relaxation or give-up are not in his dictionary.
Wapas aana padta hai,
phir wapas aana padta hai!
jab waqt ki chotein har sapne har leti hain,
jab raah ki keelein pag chhalni kar deti hain
aise me bhi gagan bhed hunkar lagana padta hai
bhagya ko bhi apni mutthi adhikar se lana padta hai
wapas aana padta hai,
phir wapas aana padta hai!
Even after facing near death experience, bankruptcy, career struggle, rejection, and overflooded emotional stress at various stages of life, he constantly reminded us how not to give up on ourselves, our dreams and our lives. Every time he fell, he picked himself up and showed the world what he was capable of.
He inspired us by the thought- “Bad times either destroy you or make you strong enough to be who you actually are.”
Remember that success doesn’t come overnight, we have to keep moving despite the failures. Our parents can offer us luxury but we have to make our dreams come true all by ourselves and from scratch.
Everyone dreams of something or the other but those who lives their dream every minute are the one who crosses that finish line. Struggles are a part of life and for someone who wants to enter the entertainment industry, it takes a lot of perseverance and constant efforts to make your place here. And to cut short this long span of struggles, we at FirstCut, bring the audition process to your home, so that no more standing and waiting in long queues or traveling with little money stops you from achieving your dreams.
“I think that it’s important that actors keep getting challenged every day. For every creative person, it’s a terrible moment when they say they have done all that they want to do” - Amitabh Bachchan