Amitabh Bachchan was rejected many times when he applied to work at All India Radio. When he got into acting, his first film had the lowest box office revenue. Not only that, while performing action scenes, he was seriously injured and was in a life-threatening situation. He still risked his life to establish an entertainment company, but then his career went downhill, he was in debt, involved in more than 50 lawsuits, and had no place to live or go home. His life was a huge failure, it seemed like he had pushed this man to the brink of death, but he still got up and became one of the most expensive actors on the small screen in India, like a flame resurrected from the ashes, just like his name – Amitabh – “an everlasting flame”.

Amitabh Bachchan was born and raised in Allahabad, India. His father, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, was a famous poet, and his mother, Teji Bachchan, was a social activist. The family was blessed with two talented sons, Amitabh Bachchan (the elder) and Ajitabh Bachchan. They were also two poor people with a passionate love for their country. Initially, the couple planned to name Amitabh Bachchan Inquilaab Srivastava because at that time, they were inspired by the Quit India Movement, and the phrase Inquilab Zindabad was also widely chanted by people at that time. Inquilab Zindabad means “Long Live the Revolution”. Later, a poet – also a friend of Harivansh Rai Bachchan, suggested that he should change his son’s name to Amitabh, meaning “eternal flame” – a name that seemed to have predetermined his fate.

Rough start

Before entering Bollywood, Amitabh wanted to become a radio announcer for All India Radio, and one of his friends also suggested that he apply for a radio show. Amitabh decided to audition for Hindi and English, but unfortunately, in the late 1960s, he was rejected twice by All India Radio.

Ameen Sayani, a famous radio announcer, rejected him because his voice was not suitable for radio. Ameen was a very busy man at that time, he was in charge of 20 programs on air every week. One day, Amitabh came to see him without an appointment. Amitabh had a burning desire to become a radio announcer, so he visited All India Radio countless times. He was also rejected…a thousand times…but, suddenly, he found a passion for acting. Later, Ameen suffered such a big shock that he could hardly believe his eyes, when he saw Amitabh’s performance in the movie Anand. Ameen was extremely regretful about rejecting Amitabh, but he was also happy that his decision had “created the premise” for Amitabh to become one of the biggest stars in the Indian entertainment industry. In 1968, Amitabh moved to Mumbai to try his luck in acting. In the early days, he had to sleep on the pavement of Marine Drive.

In 1969, Amitabh made his debut on the small screen as a voice actor in the film Bhuvan Shome for a fee of 300 Rupees. Despite his efforts, he did not receive any offers from the Bollywood film industry, he was extremely depressed, feeling that he would never have the day to set foot on the red carpet of Bollywood fame.

He decided to apply for supporting roles. One day, while standing in the crowd of extras, Shashi Kappor – a famous actor of the time, noticed him, as if he had discovered a talent that had not yet “come out of the cocoon”, still hiding behind a simple shell. Shashi quickly advised him not to take up supporting roles because he was born for the leading role.

Fatal incident

Everything was going smoothly until July 26, 1982, when Amitabh was seriously injured while shooting an action sequence for the film Coolie. According to the script, his co-star Puneet Issar was supposed to push Amitabh into a table and he fell to the ground. But at that time, his abdomen hit the right corner of the table, causing severe damage to his spleen, causing profuse bleeding. Amitabh was immediately taken to the hospital, where he spent months fighting for his life. With the efforts of the medical team and the strength from the prayers of his family, he gradually recovered. But ironically, he was diagnosed with Myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disorder that weakens the musculoskeletal system. It tormented him both physically and mentally.

Dilemma

In 1996, despite his failing health, he ventured to establish an entertainment company, Amitabh Bachchan Corporation (ABCL). ABCL started producing and distributing films, and managing event chains. In its first year, the company successfully achieved its revenue target of Rs 10 crore, produced 15 films, and employed nearly 150 people. In order to make a breakthrough, the company sponsored the Miss World beauty pageant held in Bangalore. However, ABCL suffered heavy losses of millions of dollars due to poor planning and management of the event.

The company once again lost money when it invested in stage shows in North America. In 1999, all ABCL projects were forced to stop, and the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. Although he had come up with many brilliant ideas, ahead of his time, to back ABCL, ABCL failed largely because of poor implementation and organization. Another reason for this heavy failure was that he hired employees who had no experience, no idea about film production, and no interest in the film industry. The company collapsed because of being too ambitious, and because Amitabh’s ideas were too new for the times. Along with the failure of the business, his career also went downhill. The company ran out of capital, unable to pay its employees. Amitabh had to shoulder a huge debt, up to 90 million Rupees. The company borrowed from many banks and financial companies, Amitabh also had to take responsibility for personal debts, all of which were in the name of Amitabh and Jaya Bhaduri, who had founded ABCL with him. Not only that, the company also fell into a dilemma, facing nearly 55 lawsuits. He was forced to mortgage all assets, property and houses.

Fire in the Ashes

One fine morning, Amitab Bachchan woke up at 4 am and went to the office. He sat at his desk, pondered about his strengths, and soon found a suitable answer for himself – acting – was his greatest strength, he knew he was very good at acting. Therefore, he confidently built his career again. On a similar morning, Amitabh went to the house of Yash Chopra – one of Amitabh’s closest friends, who lived right behind his house. He applied to work for Yash Chopra, and immediately, Yash Chopra gave him a role in the movie Mohabbatein. Mohabbatein was released in 2000, becoming a classic film that helped him gradually rebuild his reputation. He once again received the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Later, he returned to the world of cinema and achieved great success.