Happy Birthday Wishes to "Shahenshah of Bollywood" Amitabh Bachchan Ji

Amitabh Harivansh Rai Shrivastava Bachchan ( born 11 October 1942) first gained popularity in the early 1970s for movies like Zanjeer and Deewaar, and was dubbed India's first "angry young man" for his on-screen roles in Bollywood. Referred to as the "Shahenshah of Bollywood", "Star of the Millennium" or "Big B", he has since appeared in over 190 Indian films in a career spanning almost five decades.
Bachchan was born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, in north central India. His father Harivansh Rai Srivastava (Bachchan) was a well-known Awadhi dialect-Hindi poet.
Bachchan made his film debut in 1969 as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen's National Award winning film Bhuvan Shome. His first acting role was as one of the seven protagonists in the film Saat Hindustani directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and featuring Utpal Dutt, Anwar Ali (brother of comedian Mehmood), Madhu and Jalal Agha. Anand (1971) followed, in which Bachchan starred alongside Rajesh Khanna. His role as a doctor with a cynical view of life garnered Bachchan his first Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award. He then played his first antagonist role as an infatuated lover-turned-murderer in Parwana (1971). Following Parwana were several films including Reshma Aur Shera(1971). During this time, he made a guest appearance in the film Guddi which starred his future wife Jaya Bhaduri. He narrated part of the film Bawarchi. In 1972 he made an appearance in the road action comedy Bombay to Goa.

Director Prakash Mehra cast him in the leading role for the film Zanjeer (1973) as Inspector Vijay Khanna. The film was a huge success and one of the highest-grossing films of that year, breaking Bachchan's dry spell at the box office and making him a star. From then onwards, Bachchan became one of the most successful leading men of the film industry. He earned his first Filmfare nomination for Best Actor for Zanjeer. The year 1973 was also when he married Jaya, and around this time they appeared in several films together. In 1975, he starred in a variety of film genres from the comedy Chupke Chupke, the crime drama Faraar to the romantic drama Mili. In 1976, he was cast by Yash Chopra in the romantic family drama Kabhie Kabhie. In 1977, he won his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Amar Akbar Anthony where he played the third lead opposite Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor as Anthony Gonsalves. The film was the highest-grossing film of that year. His other successes that year include Parvarish and Khoon Pasina. He once again resumed double roles in films such as Kasme Vaade (1978) as Amit and Shankar and Don (1978) playing the characters of Don, a leader of an underworld gang and his look-alike Vijay. His performance won him his second Filmfare Best Actor Award. He also gave towering performances in Yash Chopra's Trishul and Prakash Mehra's Muqaddar Ka Sikandar both of which earned him further Filmfare Best Actor nominations. 1978 is arguably considered to be his most successful year at the box office since all of his six releases the same year, namely Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Trishul, Don, Kasme Vaade, Ganga Ki Saugandh and Besharam were massive successes, the former three being the consecutive highest-grossing films of the year, remarkably releasing within a couple of months of each other, a rare feat in Indian cinema. In 1979, Bachchan starred in Suhaag which was the highest earning film of that year. In the same year he also enjoyed critical acclaim and commercial success with films like Mr. Natwarlal, Kaala Patthar, The Great Gambler and Manzil.

In 1981, he starred in Yash Chopra's melodrama film Silsila, where he starred alongside his wife Jaya and also Rekha. Other films of this period like Shaan (1980) and Shakti (1982) which pitted him against the veteran actor Dilip Kumar were not successful at the box office but Ram Balram (1980), Naseeb (1981) and Lawaaris (1981) were successful. In 1982 he played double roles in the films Satte Pe Satta and Desh Premee which succeeded at the box office. In 1983 he played a triple role in Mahaan and starred in the top-grossing film of that year Coolie.
On 26 July 1982, while filming Coolie, in the University Campus in Bangalore, Bachchan suffered a near fatal intestinal injury during the filming of a fight scene with co-actor Puneet Issar.  He required an emergency splenectomy and remained critically ill in hospital for many months, at times close to death. Nevertheless, he resumed filming later that year after a long period of recuperation. The film was released in 1983, and partly due to the huge publicity of Bachchan's accident, the film was a box office success and the top-grossing film of that year. Later, he was diagnosed with Myasthenia gravis. His illness made him feel weak both mentally and physically and he decided to quit films and venture into politics. His political career, however, was short-lived: he resigned after three years, calling politics a cesspool.
In 1988, Bachchan returned to films, playing the title role in Shahenshah, which was a box office success. It was during this era that Bachchan won his first National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance as a Mafia don in the 1990 film Agneepath. These years would see his last on-screen appearances for some time. After the release of Khuda Gawah in 1992, Bachchan went into semi-retirement for five years. With the exception of the delayed release of Insaniyat (1994), which was also a box office failure, Bachchan did not appear in any new releases for five years. Bachchan attempted to revive his acting career and had average success with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998),and received positive reviews for Sooryavansham (1999) but other films such as Lal Baadshah (1999) and Hindustan Ki Kasam (1999) were box office failures.
In 2000, Amitabh Bachchan appeared in Yash Chopra's box-office hit, Mohabbatein, directed by Aditya Chopra. He played a stern, older figure that rivalled the character of Shahrukh Khan. His role won him his third Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. Other hits followed, with Bachchan appearing as an older family patriarch in Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love (2001), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) and Baghban(2003). As an actor, he continued to perform in a range of characters, receiving critical praise for his performances in Aks (2001), Aankhen(2002), Khakee (2004) and Dev (2004).
Taking advantage of this resurgence, Amitabh began endorsing a variety of products and services, appearing in many television and billboard advertisements. In 2005 and 2006, he starred with his son Abhishek in the hit films Bunty Aur Babli (2005), the Godfather tribute Sarkar (2005), and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006). All of them were successful at the box office.
In 2000, Bachchan hosted the first season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), the Indian adaptation of the British television game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. KBC is even today hosted by him. He is also the brand ambassador for Gujarat Tourism, which he has been since 1 February 2010.
Bachchan is married to actress Jaya Bhaduri. The couple have two children, Shweta Bachchan (later after marriage, known as Shweta Nanda wife of businessman Nikhil Nanda) and Abhishek Bachchan (actor and husband of actress Aishwarya Rai).