70 things you did not know about Big B

Find out 70 things you did not know about Amitabh Bachchan on his 70th birthday

1 He has a double Master of Arts degree.

2 He wanted to become an engineer and had was keen to join the Indian Air Force.u00a0

Photos:u00a0Amitabh Bachchan's grand birthday bash

3 He worked in Calcutta for the shipping firm Shaw & Wallace as executive and as a freight broker for Bird and Co.

4u00a0His first salary was Rs 500.

5 It was in Calcutta that he bought a second-hand Fiat as his first car.

6u00a0Though his surname was Shrivastava, his father had adopted the pen name Bachchan. Amitabh has stuck to this name only.

7u00a0His actual height is 74 inches or 1.88 m, the tallest-ever top star in Hindi cinema.

8 His father considered naming him Inquilab (Revolution) before deciding on Amitabh (unending brilliance).

9 He made his film debut in 1969 as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome.

10 Sunil Dutt signed him for a mute’s role in Reshma Aur Shera because of a letter of introduction from then PM Indira Gandhi to friend Nargis.

11 Kalyanji-Anandji helped him in his struggling days and even introduced him to Prakash Mehra.

12 During his struggling days, Amitabh had spent a few nights on a bench at Marine Drive, Mumbai. He loves to point out to the bench every time he drives past it.

13u00a0Director Satyajit Ray also used Bachchan’s voice in his 1977 Shatranj Ke Khiladi.

14u00a0Yet his baritone voice saw two rejections from the All India Radio. Ameen Sayani, radio ace, turned him down too in Mumbai.

15 He debuted in Saat Hindustani.

16u00a0Bachchan was paid Rs. 1,000 for his debut film where he struck a lifelong friendship with Tinnu Anand.

17 Comedian Mehmood was also a mentor to Bachchan in his days of struggle and offered him place to stay in his own home.

18u00a0The superstar has given 12 consecutive flops before his first big hit Zanjeer.

19u00a0His favourite screen name is Vijay as seen in over 20 movies. Another common name has been Amit.

20u00a0Big B met his future wife Jaya at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and later on the sets of Guddi.

21 Bachchan married Jaya Bhaduri in 1973 after a long courtship. Eyewitnesses of their romance include actress Nadira and common mentor Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

22 Amitabh-Jaya is the only real-life couple to have starred on-screen for 30 years from Ek Nazar to Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham - 28 years after their marriage.

23 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 Jalwa.

24 He has played more double roles than any other actor. In Mahaan, he had a triple role.

25 He holds the record for most number of best actor nominations for popular film awards.

26 Bachchan was the first choice for Shashi Kapoor’s role in Utsav and Jackie’s in King Uncle.

27 His last film which cast actress Nirupa Roy as his mother was Lal Baadshah in 1999.

28 He started being called Big B in late ’90s after his second comeback with Mrityudaata.

29 During the shooting of Khuda Gawah, Afghani president provided Amitabh with his country’s air force for protection. It was the most watched Indian film in the history of Afghanistan.

30 Big B always maintains that no Hindi actress is more beautiful than Waheeda Rahman.

31 Salim-Javed had originally written Mr. India with Bachchan in mind.

32 The song Rang barse from Silsila and some lyrics from Alaap were penned by his father, Dr. Harvanshrai Bachchan. So is the poetry in Agneepath.

33 He is the only actor to star in a remake of his own film as hero as well as villain.

34u00a0He is a vegetarian and a teetotaler.u00a0

35u00a0He is ambidextrous hence, can write with both hands equally well.

36u00a0The Indian comic character Supremo is based on him.

37u00a0Jaya is often heard saying, “Amitji is a loner!”

38u00a0The first Asian actor to have a wax model of his likeness displayed at Madame Tussauds’ in London. Another statue was installed in New York and Hong Kong in 2009.

39u00a0In 2001, Amitabh Bachchan was honoured with the 'Actor of the Century' award at an Alexandria Film Festival in Egypt.

40u00a0Was named Actor of the Millennium in a BBC News Poll ahead of such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, and Marlon Brando.

41u00a0In 2003, he was conferred with the honorary citizenship of the French town of Deauville.

42u00a0Bruce Willis once commented, at the opening of Planet Hollywood, that Bachchan was 'bigger than any Hollywood star.'

43u00a0Was awarded the Padma Bhusan in 2001.

44u00a0When he was out of work at the turn of the millennium, he called and asked Yash Chopra for a project. Mohabattein happened.

45u00a0Has been known to suffers from asthma.

46u00a0Also a rare muscular disorder known as myasthenia gravis.

47u00a0Despite his near-fatal accident and subsequent myasthenia gravis (a muscular disorder), Bachchan performed a stunt from a height of 30 feet for a scene in Aks.

48u00a0On October 31, 2006, he shocked the unit of Shootout at Lokhandwala by recording 23 scenes in 5 hours!

49u00a0His daughter, Shweta, is married to Nikhil Nanda, whose mother is the late Raj Kapoor’s daughter.

50u00a0Mr Bachchan loves comfort. The flooring at his home is Italian marble, the bath fittings are from France and Germany.

51u00a0It is said both his bungalows, Pratiksha and Jalsa, put together would be worth R 160 crore!

52u00a0Interestingly, Jalsa was gifted to the actor.

53u00a0Amitabh is very fond of suits. His favourite is Gabbana. They have been designing his suits for the past 30 years.

54 The fabric is especially imported from Italy, the thread from France and buttons from England.

55 His other favourite brand is Fratelli Rosetti, with prices starting from Rs 35,000.

56u00a0The Big B owns 11 cars, including one Lexus, two BMWs and three Mercedes.

57u00a0His favourite is the Lexus. The car is bulletproof.

58u00a0The car has radial tyres that are normally used for Formula 1 races. The cost of each tyre is Rs 2.5 lakh.

59u00a0When they were young, his kids Shweta and Abhishek asked him to not come to school because it caused too much commotion.

60u00a0The Big B has a passion for collecting watches. It is said he never repeats his watches. His favourite brand is Longines, which costs about Rs 2 lakh.

61u00a0His other interest is collecting pens. The actor has a collection of over thousand pens. Mont Blanc gifts AB a special pen every year on his birthday.

62u00a0Bachchan loves to visit London and Switzerland.

63u00a0In London, he prefers to stay at St James Court, five minutes from Buckingham Palace.

64u00a0According to ad pundits, a company once paid him Rs 10 crore for 10 days. That works out to Rs 7,000 per minute!

65u00a0He hates the word Bollywood, the word that most use to describe the Hindi film industry.

66u00a0He also dislikes the word Beti B, coined for his granddaughter Aaradhya. He preferred to call her bitiya. Jaya, his wife, calls Aaradhya Strawberry.

67u00a0On the 27th of July, 2012, Amitabh Bachchan was given the due honour to carry the Olympic torch during the last leg of its relay in London’s Southwark.

68u00a0Saat Hindustani is his only black-and-white film.

69u00a0Was one of the judges for the 1995 Miss World beauty pageant.

70u00a0Big B has made a special appearance as himself in a number of films like 'Gol Maal', 'Hero Hiralal' and 'Guddi'.
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