Happy birthday, Amitabh Bachchan

New Delhi : The ‘Shahenshah', the living legend Amitabh Bachchan has experienced one more year of his life, tallying it to 70, and is looking in a fine tune to move ahead. No doubt the actor is turning out to be tastier like an old wine with no comparison to any other B'wood superstar.As whole world celebrates the veteran's Birthday, we bring you some of the unknown facts about Amitabh Bachchan. Big B was born in 1942, when the 'Quit India Movement' was gaining steam. Poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan's friend, Amarnath Jha suggested his name to be 'Inqalab Rai'which would be a reminder of the freedom movement.But his mother Teji opposed the name. This was when poetess Sumitranandan Pant brought forth the name, 'Amitabh', which was loved by Teji. His mother-father only called him 'Amit' and others close to him called him 'munna.'Big B was very fond of eating raw guavas and 'jamuns.' While he easily relished guavas, he once slipped and fell badly off a 'jamun' tree. His father rushed upon hearing him cry, but never scolded him. During those days, a bull had charged him and thrown him in the air.Amitabh sustained serious injuries to his head and took several stitches to his head.Amitabh had to go bald for this minor surgery and opted to undergo the procedure without being sedated. When even after graduating Amitabh remained unemployed and was so frustrated that he once questioned his parents for giving him birth.On February 16, 1969, Amitabh moved to Mumbai to try his luck as an actor and, with no place to stay, Big B spent many nights on the benches skirting Marine Drive. For a while he did radio spots that earned him Rs 50 a month and morphed into the narrator's role in Mrinal Sen's Bhuvan Shome. In a 1999 interview, Mr Bachchan admitted that at the time, he had a driving license and if his dream had failed, he would have resorted to the life of a cab driver.His brother Ajitabh informed him that director K A Abbas was looking for a fresh face for his film ‘Saat Hindustani'. Ajitabh had shot his first 'portfolio' photograph which had been sent to Khwaja Ahmed Abbas. It was this photograph that got him the role of Muslim poet Anwar Ali Anwar in the flick.Before its release, legendary actress, Meena Kumari, had seen the trial show of 'Saat Hindustani' and praised Amitabh. When the flick released, Amitabh took his parents to see the film in Delhi's 'Shiela Cinema' where he had seen many a show as a college-student after bunking lectures.The flick won Big B the National Award for Best Newcomer in 1970.But despite this initial breakthrough, it wasn't a chocolate cake for the tall, dark but not conventionally handsome Amitabh. The year 1971 saw six films that featured Big B, including the Rajesh Khanna starrer Anand that won Mr Bachchan the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance as Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee, the Bengali doctor fondly referred to as "Babu Moshai" by Rajesh Khanna's Anand Sehgal.But even Anand failed to change fortunes of Big B. He did some more bit roles and again took the microphone as a narrator in the Rajesh Khanna starrer Bawarchi (1972). He missed some brilliant, including the 1973 film Saudagar alongside Nutan and Padma Khanna.But it was all covered as in 1973 it was the birth of an Angry Young Man in Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer.Prakash Mehra had first offered 'Zanjeer' to Dharmendra, Dev Anand and Rajkumar and only when they all rejected the offer was picked by Amitabh.And that was the turning point of his career. Before the offer, dejected Bachchan famously almost took the train back to Allahabad, After Zanjeer's success, he and Jaya planned a holiday abroad. Amitabh's father, when told about the plan, said they should get first married and go and finally they promptly got married.Amitabh and Jaya Bhaduri first met in FTII, Pune; after which they met on the sets of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's 'Guddi.'Next came Abhimaan, in which the newly-wed couple was cast together as singers who fall in love but are separated by jealousy.Many saw a reflection of their personal life in the movie.The music and the film were both appreciated by the audience. But Zanjeer and Deewaar were both eclipsed by what is the defining film of Indian cinema as well its biggest blockbuster, ”Sholay”.The high voltage performances, the fascinating action, Salim-Javed's story and the larger than life Gabbar Singh made Sholay the legendary movie it is, taking Big B to the highest rung of the filmi ladder.The 1976 movie “Do Anjaane” saw Amitabh Bachchan paired with Rekha, a combination that was about to give many more hits in the years to come.And while they set the silver screen on fire with their on-screen chemistry, rumours of an unacknowledged off-screen romance lingered for years.While Mr Bachchan's reported disloyalty continued to make headlines, Yash Chopra managed to do the impossible. He brought together the rumoured pati, patni aur woh trio - Amitabh, Jaya and Rekha - to act together in his movie Silsila in 1981, playing the roles they had allegedly assumed in real life.This was Big B and Rekha's last movie together.The actor's association with Yash Chopra delivered big successes such Deewaar, Kabhie Kabhie and Trishul, but their off-beat take on the Chasnala mining disaster of 1975 - Kaala Patthar , didn't quite match up to the earlier successes.During the 1980s, Amitabh was also the inspiration for a comic and its superhero, 'Supremo'. The series was called 'The Adventures of Amitabh Bachchan' went on for almost two years.Even in 2000's Big B was just unstoppable, as he gave numerous hits like Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham, Mohobbatein, Raj, Baghban, Cheeni Kum, Paa, Bhootnath, while Sanjay eela Bhansali's “Black” won him again the best Actor's Award, leaving behind the today's age actors.The superstar will surely give more and more appearances in many more movies to come. India TV wishes this legend a very Happy Birthday.