Journalism of Courage
Hailing from one of the most influential families in Indian cinema, Abhishek Bachchan has won hearts fro his charm and wit. The actor, married to one of the most beautiful women in the world, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, celebrates his 39th birthday today. As we wish Abhishek Bachchan aka Nandu Bhide a very happy birthday, here's a look at his life in pics.
Abhishek Bachchan played the role of Nandu Bhide in Farah Khan’s ‘Happy New Year’ along with Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah. His role of a drunkard was appreciated.
2014 was a busy year for Abhishek Bachchan. He ventured into the field of sports, buying the Pro Kabaddi League franchise team, Jaipur Pink Panthers and the Indian Super League football team, Chennaiyin FC. The actor’s Kabaddi team saw victory in the championship.
Abhishek Bachchan has his hands full with upcoming projects. He will be seen in romantic drama, ‘All is Well’ along with actress Asin. He will also be part of ‘Housefull 3’ along with Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh.
Abhishek is the son of veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan and actress Jaya Bachchan. His grandfather, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, was a poet of Hindi literature and professor at the Allahabad University in Uttar Pradesh. He has an elder sister, Shweta Bachchan-Nanda.
Talking about his personal life, as a child, Abhishek, so of megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan, suffered from dyslexia. He studied at Jamnabai Narsee School and Bombay Scottish School in Mumbai, Modern School, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, and Aiglon College in Switzerland. He later enrolled at Boston University, but dropped out.
When it comes to Abhishek’s love life, not much is known for sure. However, that doesn’t stop people from speculating. In October 2002, Abhishek and Karisma Kapoor announced their engagement on Amitabh Bachchan’s birthday. However, four months later, it was called off. Till today, nobody is sure of what actually went down between the two families.
There have also been rumours of Abhishek Bachchan dating Rani Mukerji. The couple shared a good chemistry in ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ and was said to have got along well. However, rumours suggest that Abhishek’s mother Jaya Bachchan was not in favor of the actress.
Abhishek later fell in love with Aishwarya Rai during the filming of ‘Dhoom 2’. They announced their engagement on 14 January 2007, which was later, confirmed by Amitabh Bachchan.
Abhishek and Aishwarya tied the knot in a private ceremony on 20 April 2007.
Their daughter Aaradhya was born on 16 November 2011. The tiny tot is said to be quite the apple of her daddy's eye.
Abhishek made his Bollywood debut in 2000 with J.P. Dutta’s ‘Refugee’ opposite Kareena Kapoor who was also making her debut. His performance was well received, however, the film failed to do well. He was later seen in ‘Shararat’ and ‘Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai’ which also ended up being Box office failures. Post this; Abhishek had a lull in his career with a string of 17 flops.
That same year, Abhishek appeared in Yash Raj Films’ ‘Dhoom’ along with John Abraham, which went on to become a huge commercial hit. The film earned over Rs. 550 million, becoming one of the top-grossing Indian films of 2004.
The following year, Abhishek had fabulous success with commercial hit Shaad Ali’s ‘Bunty Aur Babli’, opposite Rani Mukerji. The film, which almost drew a comparison from American classic, ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, became one of the biggest hits of 2005.
Later that year, Abhishek starred in Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Sarkar’, which was termed an above average success at the Box office. The film also starred Abhishek’s father Amitabh Bachchan. Abhishek received the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, IIFA Award and Zee Cine Award for the same category.
He later appeared in close friend Rohan Sippy’s ‘Bluffmaster’ along with Riteish Deshmukh and Priyanka Chopra among others. Despite opening to mixed reviews, ‘Bluffmaster’ was a moderate success at the Box office.
In 2006, Abhishek was seen in Karan Johar’s ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’ along with Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta. The film told the tale of an extra-marital affair and Abhishek’s performance earned him his third Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.
His second film that year was J. P. Dutta’s ‘Umrao Jaan’ in which he was seen opposite Aishwarya Rai. But, the film faired poorly.
Abhishek next reprised his role of ACP Jai Dixit in Yash Raj Films’ ‘Dhoom 2’ along with Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Uday Chopra and Bipasha Basu. The film broke several Box Office records, mainly those for opening day and opening weekend grosses. It became the highest grossing film of the year.
n 2007, Abhishek appeared in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Guru’ along with Aishwarya Rai. The biographical film loosely based on the life of late industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani, received extremely positive reviews, both from critics and audiences. Abhishek’s performance garnered much praise and acclaim, earning him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. His next release of 2007 was ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’, which opened to mixed reviews and performed moderately.
The following year saw Abhishek co-star with wife Aishwarya and father Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Sarkar Raj’, a sequel to ‘Sarkar’, which opened to critically positive reviews. His next release ‘Drona’ (2008), received a very poor response and was deemed a failure.
However, Abhishek’s last release of the year, ‘Dostana’, also starring John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra, was a huge hit and became one of the highest grossing films of the year. The film was a big success overseas as well.
Abhishek began 2009 with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s drama film ‘Delhi-6’. However, the film opened to mixed reviews and was declared a flop. His next film ‘Paa’, along with Amitabh Bachchan and Vidya Balan, had the actor take on the role of producer as well. Directed by R. Balki, ‘Paa’ deals with the real medical condition that results in accelerated ageing called progeria. Abhishek played Big B’s father in the film, while Vidya played his mother. Touching the hearts of its audiences, ‘Paa’ opened to good reviews and received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
In 2010, Abhishek co-starred with wife Aishwarya in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavan’. The film, which had Bachchan Junior in a negative role, however, was a critical and commercial failure. Later that year, Abhishek played a teacher in Ashutosh Gowariker’s period piece film, ‘Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey’. Though the film opened to good reviews, it was a Box office disaster.
Abhishek then starred in Abhinay Deo’s action flick, ‘Game’ (2011) along with Kangana Ranaut, Gauahar Khan, Jimmy Shergill and Boman Irani. However, this film too performed poorly at the Box Office. His next release of the year, ‘Dum Maaro Dum’ had Abhishek playing the role of an ACP once again, who is on a mission to flush out all the drug gangsters in Goa. Abhishek’s performance was much appreciated and the film went on to become an above average grosser.
Abhishek’s first release of 2012 was Abbas-Mustan’s multistarrer ‘Players’ along with Sonam Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bobby Deol, Sikandar Kher and Omi Vaidya. The film opened to mixed reviews from critics, but was a disappointment at the Box Office. His next release was Rohit Shetty’s romantic action comedy ‘Bol Bachchan’ with Ajay Devgn, Asin and Prachi Desai. The film opened to good reviews and was a major success.
2013 had Abhishek once again reprise his role of ACP Jai Dixit for a third time in ‘Dhoom 3’, which starred Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif in lead roles. The film received a good response from critics and became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time domestically and worldwide.
