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10 lesser known facts about Amitabh Bachchan

By Sreya Basu

Posted on October 11, 2017

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Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan turned 75 today on October 11, 2017.

Big B rang in his 75th birthday with his family – wife Jaya Bachchan, son Abhishek Bachchan, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, daughter Shweta Nanda and grand-daughters Aaradhya Bachchan and Navya Naveli Nanda – at one of his favourite holiday destinations Maldives.

The Bachchans, who are staying at luxury resort One & Only Reethi Rah in Kaafu Atoll, reportedly threw a midnight bash for the family patriarch with crackers and a huge cake.

While Amitabh Bachchan holidays with his family in Maldives for the next four days, here are 10 lesser known facts about him that his fans would like to know:

1. Surprisingly acting was not what Amitabh Bachchan initially wanted to take up as a profession. He thought of joining the Indian Air Force. He also had engineering on his mind.

2. He used to be a stage actor while he worked as an executive for Bird and Company in Kolkata during 1960s.

3. Not many knows Amitabh Bachchan is ambidextrous, that is, her can write equally well with both his hands. He is basically left-handed, but his father, veteran poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, asked him not to use his left hand for writing, which is equivalent to worshiping Devi Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning. So, Big B practiced and mastered the art of writing with his right hand.

4. In July 1999, BBC online poll named Amitabh Bachchan as “Greatest Star of stage or screen of the Millennium”. His fellow nominees were Hollywood legends like Alec Guinness, Marlon Brando, Laurence Olivier and Charlie Chaplin.

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5. It is little known that Amitabh Bachchan debuted in films in 1969 not as an actor but as a voice narrator in veteran filmmaker Mrinal Sen’s National Award winning film “Bhuvan Shome”.

6. Now famous for his baritone, Big B was rejected by the All India Radio (AIR) when he applied for a radio presenter’s job in the 1960s. The reason: his voice was deemed “unsuitable”.

7. It was actor-filmmaker Mehmood who offered Amitabh bachchan shelter at his residence during his struggling days.

8. That time he was 58; yet did not hesitate for a minute before jumping off from a height of 30 feet with co-actor Manoj Bajpayee for his 2001 film “Aks”.

9. If cine records are to be believed, Amitabh Bachchan was the first Indian actor to get a remuneration of Rs 1 crore for his films. In fact, till 1990s, he was the only actor who received a crore for signing a film.

10. As per a report by The Economic Times, Amitabh Bachchan got engaged to an air hostess named Maya in 1969. She reportedly used to work for British Airways.

Big Wire