Born on the 11th of October of 1942 when the British rule was beginning to lose power, Amitabh Bachchan is close to completing 60 years of a lifetime. Not interested in films at first, he joined the industry in 1969 with Saat Hindustani. He also became Bollywood’s first action man with Zanjeer in 1973. Then, he was known as "the angry young man" after that movie. This movie gave him acclaim and made him a superstar. 

He started doing such roles in a time where other superstars such as Shashi Kapoor, Dharmendra, and Rajesh Khanna were attached to romantic roles. He then starred in Deewar with the yesteryear heart-throb Shashi Kapoor. This went on to become a super hit.

He already had eleven films completed by end of 1972.  His popularity rose when he won the Best Supporting Actor award for his film Anand in 1971 and then again for the film Namak Haram in 1973.  He also did win Most Promising Newcomer for Saat Hindustani but that wasn’t a very prestigious award at the time.  Many people also felt that he should have won best actor for Zanjeer but unfortunately he was unable to walk away with the award. 

In a stardust interview he talks about his childhood and how he was a shy kid and how 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 is married to another star in the industry, Jaya Bachan, whom he met during the shooting for Guddi.  He also has two children, daughter Shweta Bachan and son Abhishek Bachchan; who has followed into his father footsteps.

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 Dewar, which became an all-time hit. 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 yesteryear year stars such as Shashi Kapoor, Jaya Badhuri (Bachan), Dharmendra, and Vinod Khanna and got a chance to prove his worth working alongside them. People then thought that he wouldn’t be able to cope working with such stars, but not only has he proven them wrong he has overtaken their status.

By the time the 80’s rolled around people had already claimed Amitabh Bachchan the king of Bollywood, overtaking stars such as Shashi Kapoor and the evergreen Raj Kapoor. He had released an incredible forty-eight movies since 1969-1979, only of which nine did less than average business. In today’s terms any actor would love to have that kind of luck. His luck didn’t dwindle when the 80’s started as his first movie of the new decade Barsaat Ki Ek Raat became a hit, and his success continued with films such as Dostana, Shaan, Laawaris, Silsia and Naseeb, all of became super-hits. His first flop of the decade came in 1988 with Ganga Januma Saraswati. Until then he had released thirty movies, all of which became either hits or super-hits. It was after that movie that people thought he time had run out, as he had four consecutive flops.

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 (One of the best Must See Movies around today).  Still, one could see his career was finally fading away after more than twenty years in the industry. He had started making only a couple of movies annually instead of the five-six he was used to doing. His next big hit came with Hum, as he had started to play the roles of elderly people. He wasn’t the same charismatic youth he used to be.  Nevertheless, Amitabh Bachchan remained Amitabh Bachchan. 

He proved that he was still human as he had another downhill slide when Insaniyaat and Mrityudaata flopped. But like all actors he jumped back with commission earner Major Saab and starred in the comedy Bade Miyan Chote Miyan which went on to become a hit.  1999 was a bad year for him as Sooryavansham, Lal Badshaah, Hindustan Ki Kasam, and Kohram all flopped. People had started to assume that the Big B had finally given out and his time was over. Only Amitbah Bachan knew the truth. His next film in the new century Mohabbatein became a super hit, as did his next release Ek Rishtaa. People will say that his latest release Aks was a flop, but his acting proved his capabilities.