Shah Rukh Khan The King of Endorsements

In 1993, Shah Rukh Khan first appeared in three ads for tea brand Brahmaputra. The ads heralded the arrival of Shah Rukh Khan as a brand endorser of some stature. The very next year, he ended up endorsing three more brands – Hero Puch, Cinthol and Mayur Suitings. The series of his hits not only established him as a super star of film industry but also positioned him as a bankable endorser.



In 1996 he was signed by cola giant Pepsi, which can be seen as the turning point of his endorsement career. Shah Rukh Khan since then, has endorsed Bagpiper, Hyundai Santro and i10, Top Ramen noodles, Jeanne Arthes, Clinic All Clear shampoo, Emami-Sona Chandi Chyawanprash, Lux, Omega, Airtel, Nokia, sunfeast, Compaq, Home Trade, Videocon to name a few.

The superstar Shah Rukh Khan has 34 brand endorsement deals for year 2008 which is down from 37 endorsement brand in year 2007. I believe that other celebrity like Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Akshay kumar have not shown great interest in the endorsement market. In the given scenario it is important to understand what makes him the most popular celebrity brand endorser around?

Shah Rukh Khan has been around for a long time, and has become a bankable name. He is the only one who has proved to be consistent for last fifteen years (since the release of his first movie in 1992). In recent past we have seen that the actors like Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Akshay kumar are also consistent and bankable name of the Indian film industry but they are not the corporate world darling. In my views corporate world not only look for these two factors there are something more than this. The other important factors are – corporate friendliness, image of celebrity, brand personality of celebrity.





Marketers claim that Shah Rukh Khan’s appeal cuts across age, gender, and class, and blends the characteristics that mirror multiple identities – the ordinary middle class guy who went on to became the King. The king is a traditional and family loving Indian.

The biggest plus about the actor Shah Rukh Khan is that he holds self-made man image. The common Indian man associates with him and aspires to become Shah Rukh Khan. In last few years Akshay kumar has also attained status of self-made man which is challenge to the king. The other plus about Shah Rukh Khan is his image of down-to-earth, approachable person and his ability of straddling the classes and the masses. He is not niche actor like Aamir, and not even a down market actor like Govinda. In this parameter also Akshay kumar has taken a lead. This new image of the Bollywood star Akshay kumar can be a threat to the Shah Rukh Khan’s endorsement kingdom.

The fact that Shah Rukh Khan has been so overexposed by advertising leaves little room for credibility among consumers. I can’t imagine Shah Rukh Khan driving Huandi Santro or i10 but the fact that the Shah Rukh Khan’s fans still associate him with the products is doing wonders for him.

Dayana Mendoza - Miss Universe 2008

World might say that 13 is unlucky number but Dayana Mendoza, would probably say it’s lucky. Dayana Mendoza, a 21-year old professional model and student from Caracas, won Miss Venezuela title on on September 13th 2007. The thirteen strikes again and on 13th July 2008 she was crowned Miss Universe 2008 at the pageant in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Miss Colombia Taliana Vargas, won 1st runner-up. The second, third and fourth runners-up were Miss Dominican Republic, Miss Russia and Miss Mexico, respectively.

The judges panel comprises of Notable former beauty queens Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president of the Trump Organization; Roberto Cavalli, fashion designer and entrepreneur; Nadine Velazquez, international cover girl; Jennifer Hawkins, television presenter and Miss Universe 2004; Louis Licari, celebrity colorist and “Today Show” ambush makeover expert and John Nguyen, vice chairman of Hoan Cau, LTD Investment and Construction.

The Indian beauty!, Simran Kaur Mundi did not feature in final fifteen which included Dayana Mendoza (Venezuela), Zana Krasniqi (Kosovo), Elisa Najera (Mexico), Lam Thuy Nguyen (Vietnam), Tansey Coetzee (South Africa), Laura Dundovic (Australia), Hiroko Mima (Japan), Marianne Cruz Gonzalez (Dominican Republic), Claudia Ferraris (Italy), Taliana Vargas (Colombia), Vera Krasova (Russia), Jazmin Dammak (Hungary), Eliska Buckova (Czech Republic), Crystle Stewart (USA) and Claudia Moro (Spain).





More about – Dayana Mendoza

Birth name: Dayana Sabrina Mendoza Moncada
Birthdate: June 1, 1986 (age 22)
Birth location: Caracas, Venezuela
Height: 176 cm
Eye color: Green
Hair color: Brown
Major Competition(s): Miss Universe 2008 (Winner) and Elite Model Look International 2001 (finalist)


More about – Miss Universe pageant
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest run by the Miss Universe Organization.

The Miss Universe Organization is a New York-based partnership firm between NBC and Donald Trump. It was founded in 1960 by California clothing company Pacific Mills. Miss Universe pageant which is organized by Donald Trump has seen many owners. Before Donald Trump acquired it in 1996 it was managed by Kayser-Roth, Gulf and Western Industries. The NBC and Donald Trump, is managing the pageant since June 20, 2002.

The story of Miss Universe pageant is one of the success story written on the emotions of withdrawal and rejection. In 1951, Yolande Betbeze, the winner of the Miss America 1951 pageant, refused to pose in a swimsuit from its major sponsor, Catalina swimwear. Pacific Mills, the owner of brand Catalina swimwear withdrew from the sponsorship of Miss America and set up Miss USA and Miss Universe contests. In 1952, Armi Kuusela won the first Miss Universe Pageant. It was held in Long Beach, California.

Kamal Haasan

Kamal Haasan is an actor, producer, director, screenwriter, lyricist, playback singer and choreographer has won a total of 172 awards which is more than any other actor in the world living or dead. He was named as "kalaignani" – an idol of art, by M. Karunanidhi for his classical work towards Tamil cinema. The kalaignani was born on November 7, 1954 is the youngest of four children born in to an Iyengar family to Rajalakshmi and Srinivasan.


Early career: 1960s – 1970s

Kamal Haasan began his career as a child artist at age of six. In the 1960s, he made his screen debut with film Kalathur Kannamma, produced by AVM production and directed by by A. Bhimsingh, and won his first National Award for Best Child Artist. He acted as a child actor in five other Tamil films in the subsequent few years.

In 1972, after completing his education, Kamal Haasan returned to films and played supporting roles to more estblished actors. In 1974, Naan Avanillai final establishing him as a lead actor and in the same year he received a regional Filmfare Award for his role in the Malayalam movie Kanyakumari. The next four years, he won six regional Best Actor Filmfare Awards, including four consecutive Best Tamil Actor Awards.

Kamal Haasan in most of his late 1970s films, was usually the hero, with Rajinikanth as the villain. He reached stardom in 1979 with multiple classics and mass blockbusters. A huge factor behind Kamal's success is his versatility.


Growth career: 1980s – 1990s

In 1981, Kamal Haasan' acted in 100th film Raja Paarvai, which also marked his debut in film production. The portrayal of a blind session violinist earned him a Filmfare Award. In 1981, he incidentally ventured into direction. This was his first attempt at direction, which came through an unfortunate turn of events with the demise of director T.N. Baalu during the filming of Sankarlal. Kamal Haasan's next acting role, in Ek Duuje Ke Liye, became his first Hindi-language film. In 1985, his performance in Saagar, won him both the Filmfare Best Actor Award as well as the Best Supporting Actor Award, making him the first actor to win both awards for a single film in the award's history.

In 1987, Mani Rathnam' directed him for Nayagan, commonly referred to The Godfather of Tamil cinema. The film helped Kamal Haasan bag a Indian National Award. The film was nominated by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1987. in 1990, Kamal Hassan received India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri for his services to Indian cinema.

Unlike the eighties, Kamal Haasan films in the nineties lost sheen and were unsuccessful, barring Thevar Magan, Michael Madhana Kamarajan, and Avvai Shanmugi. The 1990s saw Kamal Haasan breaking out of the romantic hero mould to explore some more gritty, unconventional roles. In 1996, he acted in the police cop story, Kuruthipunal, which met with a strong critical reception. The success in Kuruthipunal, was followed by Indian which helped him bag him third National Film Award for Best Actor. Kamal Haasan's second attempt at direction came through another unfortunate turn of events when the original director Shantanu Sheroey failed to do a good job while filming Chachi 420 in 1997.


New century – A new beginning

In 2000, Kamal Haasan filmed his second directorial venture, Hey Ram. He also donned roles of the writer, the lyricist, the choreogrpaher and the producer for the movie Hey Ram. The decade also saw his third directorial venture, Virumaandi. In 2006, Kamal Haasan's long delayed project, Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu became a blockbuster at the box office. Kamal Haasan latest release, Dasavatharam has got positive response of audiences. He is set to direct his fourth directorial venture under the production of Walt Disney Pictures. The film tentatively titled Marmayogi, is believed to be set in the 7th century and feature several leading stars in the lead roles alongside Haasan. The film was announced with a higher budget than Dasavatharam.


Hollywood Inspiration

Kamal Haasan's remakes are usually inspired by Hollywood originals, but the story and screenplay are customized for Indian Audiences viz. Nayagan was inspired by Godfather, Avvai Shanmugi and Chachi 420 were inspired by Mrs. Doubtfire, Anbe Sivam was inspired by Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Sathi Leelavathi was inspired by She-Devil, and Magalir Mattum was inspired by Nine to Five.


Awards

Kamal Haasan is a three-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Actor for the films Nayagan, Moondram Pirai and Indian. He also won the national award for Best Child Actor for his performance in Kalathur Kannamma. Six of his movies have been sent as India's official entry to the Oscars. He has won the Filmfare awards 18 times. He was awarded the Padmashri in 1990. He has won a total of 172 awards which is more than any other actor in the world living or dead. He was named as "kalaignani" – an idol of art, by M. Karunanidhi for his classical work towards Tamil cinema. In 2007, he was conferred with "Living Legend" in the film business by FICCI, India.



Source: http://www.chakpak.com, and http://www.imdb.com, http://www.screenindia.com, http://www.apunkachoice.com,

Beginning of Battle - Anil Ambani and Mukesh Ambani

July 2002: Dhirubhai Ambani passes away.

..... and beginning of never ending corporate battle between brothers Anil Ambani and Mukesh Ambani.

October 2002: Reliance announces huge gas finds off the Andhra Pradesh Coast.
December 2002: Mukesh’s venture Reliance Infocomm launched. Anil does a no-show at the launch.
October 2003: RIL sells telecom business to Reliance Infocomm, consolidates telecom businesses under one company.
June, 2004: Anil becomes Rajya Sabha member.
June, 2004: Anil announces Rs.100 billion power plant in UP.
July, 2004: Board passes Resolution conferring all powers in the hands of the Chairman of the Reliance Group – Mukesh.
October 2004: Anil objects in an official letter to Mukesh.
November2004: Mukesh publicly accepts “Ownership Issues” with brother Anil.
December2004: Mukesh renounces Rs.500 million sweat equity (notionally valued at Rs.70 billion) in Infocomm.
December2004: RIL announces a share buyback to boost investor confidence. Anil questions the buyback motive publicly before the board meeting and abstains from voting on the issue. Board reaffirms full confidence in Mukesh.
January 2005: Anil resigned from IPCL vice-chairmanship.
January 2005: Anil sends 500-page note on corporate governance to RIL board, says there’s no transparency.
April, 2005: Anil questions the board, stating corporate governance are not being addressed; announces it’s him vs. Reliance XI before board meeting.
18June 2005: Ambanis settle ownership issue under the guidance of their mother Kokilaben Ambani and on the basis of the settlement plan drafted by ICICI Bank CEO K V Kamath.

Anil Ambani

Born on June 4, 1959, Anil Ambani holds Bachelors in Science from the University of Bombay and Masters in Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Anil has an unbelievable grasp of facts and numbers; he is a financial genius; and he understands capital markets well. Anil’s competitors always charge him with being too close to regulators, with his businesses benefiting from regulatory loopholes. He has strong political ties which helped him build his mobile network.

Anil Ambani is one of the foremost entrepreneurs of Independent India. He joined Reliance in 1983 as Co-Chief Executive Officer and was the financial backbone of the Reliance Industries Limited. He pioneered India Inc’s forays into overseas capital markets with international public offerings of global depository receipts, convertibles and bonds. Starting 1991, he led Reliance Industries Limited in its efforts to raise, around US$2 billion from overseas financial markets. In January 1997, Anil managed the launch of the 100-year Yankee bond. He steered the Reliance Group to its current status as India’s leading textiles, petroleum, petrochemicals, power, and Telecom Company. June 2005 Anil resigned from the post of Vice Chairman and Managing Director in Reliance Industries Limited and founded Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. He is the Chairman of all listed Group companies, which include:
Reliance Capital
Reliance Mutual Fund
Reliance Life Insurance
Reliance General Insurance
Reliance Money
Reliance Consumer Finance
Reliance Communications
Reliance Energy
Reliance Power
Reliance Health
Reliance Entertainment and Adlabs
Tech Reliance

The combined entity as of October 6th 2007 has a net-worth of US$45 billion, which makes him the 6th richest person in the world. His was the world’s fastest-growing multi-billion-dollar fortune in percentage terms as his wealth tripled in 1 year.

Family and Friends:
Anil is the youngest son of late father Dhirubhai Ambani (1938-2002) and Kokilaben Ambani. He is married to Tina (Munim) Ambani a well known Indian Actress of 80’s. He has two sons, Jai Anmol and Jai Anshul. He is friends with the family of Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood superstar and Amar Singh, politician.

Anil with his family lives in south Mumbai in one part of an apartment block he shares with brother Mukesh. Anil arrives at work by helicopter at his business park by 9.30am and in general works for 12 hours.

Achievement:
Anil is the Chairman of Board of Governors of DA-IICT, Gandhinagar and a member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He is member of the Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He is also a member of the Central Advisory Committee, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. In June 2004, Anil was elected as an Independent Member of the Rajya Sabha - Upper House, Parliament of India but resigned voluntarily on March 25, 2006. A few awards and key achievements of the to the visionary Anil Ambani:
Founder and Chairman of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group;
Chosen as the ‘CEO of the Year 2004′ in the Platts Global Energy Awards;
MTV Youth Icon of the Year’ in September 2003
‘The Entrepreneur of the Decade Award’ by the Bombay Management Association;
Businessman of the Year Award’ by leading Business Magazine, Business India in 1997; and
Elected an independent member Rajya Sabha MP in June 2004
Telecom person of the year 2007

Mukesh Ambani

Born on April 19, 1957 in Yemen, Mukesh Ambani holds Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from UDCT Mumbai (MUICT). He also pursued an MBA at Stanford University but dropped out after his first year.

Mukesh Ambani joined Reliance in 1981 and initiated Reliance’s backward integration from textiles into polyester fibres and further into petrochemicals. This was his first big achievement. In the process of backward and forward integration he created 60 new, world-class manufacturing facilities. He major achievement is creation of the world’s largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, with a present capacity of 33 million tones per year integrated with petrochemicals, power generation, port and related infrastructure, at an investment of nearly $26 billion USD. At present, Mukesh Ambani is busy steering Reliance’s initiatives in a world scale, offshore, deep water oil and gas exploration and production program, setting up of a second petroleum refinery at Jamnagar.

Mukesh Ambani set up one of the largest telecommunications companies in India in the form of Reliance Communications Limited. Under his leadership, Reliance has entered retail business through its wholly owned subsidiary Reliance Retail. He also owns the Indian Premier League team Mumbai Indians. His interest lies in:
Exploration & Production
Petroleum Refining & Marketing
Petrochemicals
Textiles
Retail
SEZ

Mukesh Ambani is the chairman, managing director and the largest shareholder of Reliance Industries, India’s largest private sector enterprise and a Fortune 500 company. He is world’s fifth richest man, with a net worth of approximately $43 billion.

Family
Mukesh Ambani is son of late Dhirubhai Ambani, an Indian entrepreneur and founder of Reliance Industries, and Kokilaben Ambani. He is married to Nita Ambani, who looks after the social and charitable arm of Reliance industries. He has three children – Akash, Isha and Anant.

Mukesh Ambani with his family lives in south Mumbai in one part of an apartment block he shares with brother Anil. He is currently building, a 27-story skyscraper in downtown Mumbai, the world’s most expensive home which is valued at nearly $1 billion.

Achievements
Mukesh Ambani is member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry, Government of India and the Board of Governors of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi. He is member of the Indo-US CEOs Forum, the International Advisory Board of Citigroup. He is the Chairman, Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and a member of the Advisory Council of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. He is also a member of the Advisory Council for the Graduate School of Business of the Stanford University. A few awards and key achievements of the to the visionary Mukesh Ambani:
Businessman of the year 2007 by a public poll in India conducted by NDTV
United States-India Business Council (USIBC) leadership award for “Global Vision” 2007 in Washington
The first Trillionaire in India, June 2007
ET Business Leader of the Year’ Award by The Economic Times (India) in the year 2006
The India Business Leadership Award by CNBC-TV18 in 2007
first NDTV-Profit ‘Global Indian Leader Award’ from in the year 2006.
World Communication Award for the ‘Most Influential Person’ in Telecommunications by Total Telecom, in 2004

Dhirubhai Ambani

Dhirubhai Ambani (Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani) was born on 28 December 1932, at Chorwad, Gujarat, India to Hirachand Gordhanbhai Ambani and Jamnaben in an Anavil Brahmin family of very moderate means. He is an Indian rags-to-riches business tycoon who founded Reliance Industries in Mumbai.

Beginning of journey (will publish in detail soon)
Dhirubhai Ambani moved to Aden, Yemen when he was 16 years old. There he worked with A. Besse & Co. for a salary of Rs.300 for two years latter, A. Besse & Co. became the distributors for Shell products, and he was promoted to manage the company’s filling station at the port of Aden.

In 1962, Dhirubhai returned to India and started the Reliance Commercial Corporation in partnership with Champaklal Damani, his second cousin with a capital of Rs.15,000.00. It was an export house dealing in import of polyester yarn and export of spices. In 1965, Champaklal Damani and Dhirubhai Ambani ended their partnership and Dhirubhai started on his own. Dhirubhai started his first textile mill at Naroda, in Ahmedabad in the year 1966. Ambani took his company (Reliance) public in 1977 and the rest is history. The Ambani brothers by 2007 was one of the richest families in the world

Over time, Dhirubhai diversified his business with the core specialization being in petrochemicals and additional interests in telecommunications, information technology, energy, power, retail, textiles, infrastructure services, capital markets, and logistics.

Family
Dhirubhai Ambani was married to Kokilaben and had two sons, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani and two daughters, Nina Kothari and Deepti Salgaocar.

Death
Dhirubhai Ambani was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on June 24, 2002 after he suffered a major stroke. He died on July 6, 2002, at around 11:50 P.M. IST. He is survived by Kokilaben Ambani, his wife, two sons, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, and two daughters, Nina Kothari and Deepti Salgaonkar.

Achievements:
A few awards and key achievements of the to the visionary Dhirubhai Ambani:

Top Businessman’ in the ‘Best of India’ poll conducted by Zee News, August 2003
Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his outstanding contribution to Downstream Petroleum Industry in India, January 2003 by Petrotech Society conferred posthumously the
India’s Most Admired CEOs’ for the fourth consecutive year in the Business Barons - Taylor Nelson Sofres - Mode Survey, July 2002
Lifetime Achievement Award’ by India HRD Congress, February 2002
The Economic Times Award for Corporate Excellence for Lifetime Achievement’, August 2001
Man of the Century’ award by Chemtech Foundation and Chemical Engineering World in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the growth and development of the chemical industry in India, November 2000.
Indian Entrepreneur of the 20th Century’ award by FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries), for his meticulous scripting of one of the most remarkable stories of business endeavour of the 20th century, March 2000
The most admired Indian of the millennium in the field of Business & Economics in ‘Legends - A Celebration of Excellence’ poll audited by Ernst & Young for Zee Network, January 2000.
‘Indian Businessman of the Century’ in Business Barons Global Multimedia Poll, December 1999
Most Admired Indian Business Leader’ by The Times of India, Indiatimes.com poll, July 1999
The only Indian industrialist in ‘Business Hall of Fame’ in Asiaweek, October 1998
Businessman of the Year 1993′, Business India, January 1994

Dhirubhai Ambani

Dhirubhai Ambani (Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani) was born on 28 December 1932, at Chorwad, Gujarat, India to Hirachand Gordhanbhai Ambani and Jamnaben in an Anavil Brahmin family of very moderate means. He is an Indian rags-to-riches business tycoon who founded Reliance Industries in Mumbai.

Beginning of journey (will publish in detail soon)
Dhirubhai Ambani moved to Aden, Yemen when he was 16 years old. There he worked with A. Besse & Co. for a salary of Rs.300 for two years latter, A. Besse & Co. became the distributors for Shell products, and he was promoted to manage the company’s filling station at the port of Aden.

In 1962, Dhirubhai returned to India and started the Reliance Commercial Corporation in partnership with Champaklal Damani, his second cousin with a capital of Rs.15,000.00. It was an export house dealing in import of polyester yarn and export of spices. In 1965, Champaklal Damani and Dhirubhai Ambani ended their partnership and Dhirubhai started on his own. Dhirubhai started his first textile mill at Naroda, in Ahmedabad in the year 1966. Ambani took his company (Reliance) public in 1977 and the rest is history. The Ambani brothers by 2007 was one of the richest families in the world

Over time, Dhirubhai diversified his business with the core specialization being in petrochemicals and additional interests in telecommunications, information technology, energy, power, retail, textiles, infrastructure services, capital markets, and logistics.

Family
Dhirubhai Ambani was married to Kokilaben and had two sons, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani and two daughters, Nina Kothari and Deepti Salgaocar.

Death
Dhirubhai Ambani was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on June 24, 2002 after he suffered a major stroke. He died on July 6, 2002, at around 11:50 P.M. IST. He is survived by Kokilaben Ambani, his wife, two sons, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, and two daughters, Nina Kothari and Deepti Salgaonkar.

Achievements:
A few awards and key achievements of the to the visionary Dhirubhai Ambani:

Top Businessman’ in the ‘Best of India’ poll conducted by Zee News, August 2003
Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his outstanding contribution to Downstream Petroleum Industry in India, January 2003 by Petrotech Society conferred posthumously the
India’s Most Admired CEOs’ for the fourth consecutive year in the Business Barons - Taylor Nelson Sofres - Mode Survey, July 2002
Lifetime Achievement Award’ by India HRD Congress, February 2002
The Economic Times Award for Corporate Excellence for Lifetime Achievement’, August 2001
Man of the Century’ award by Chemtech Foundation and Chemical Engineering World in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the growth and development of the chemical industry in India, November 2000.
Indian Entrepreneur of the 20th Century’ award by FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries), for his meticulous scripting of one of the most remarkable stories of business endeavour of the 20th century, March 2000
The most admired Indian of the millennium in the field of Business & Economics in ‘Legends - A Celebration of Excellence’ poll audited by Ernst & Young for Zee Network, January 2000.
‘Indian Businessman of the Century’ in Business Barons Global Multimedia Poll, December 1999
Most Admired Indian Business Leader’ by The Times of India, Indiatimes.com poll, July 1999
The only Indian industrialist in ‘Business Hall of Fame’ in Asiaweek, October 1998
Businessman of the Year 1993′, Business India, January 1994

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan (Amitabh Harivansh Srivastav), born on October 11, 1942 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh is one of the most prominent Indian film actors of Bollywood. Amitabh Bachchan is known for his deep, baritone voice. He before entering the film industry applied for a job with All India Radio for the post of a news announcer, for which he was rejected – probably a destiny’s call. The actor also did Playback Singing for The Great Gambler, Mr. Natwarlal, Lawaaris, Naseeb, Silsila, Mahaan, Pukar, Sharaabi, Toofan, Jaadugar, Khuda Gawah, Major Saab, Sooryavansham, Aks, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Aankhen, Armaan, Baghban, Dev, Aetbaar, Baabul, Nishabd, Cheeni Kum, Bhoothnath.

Amitabh Bachchan has been a narrator, a playback singer film producer, presenter for numerous programmes, and Television anchor. He was also elected member of the Indian Parliament from 1984 to 1987. The actor Amitabh Bachchan holds the record for the most number of Best Actor nominations at the Filmfare Awards and has won three National Film Awards and twelve Filmfare Awards to date.

Mile stone 1 – Saat Hindustani and Anand

Bachchan made his film debut in 1969 in Saat Hindustani, a film directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. Though the film was not a financial success but Bachchan won his first National Film Award for Best Newcomer. In 1971 was awarded Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in Anand. In 1973 director Prakash Mehra cast him in the leading role for the film Zanjeer as Inspector Vijay Khanna which established Amitabh as the angry young man of Bollywood. Later Bachchan played the role of Vikram in the film Namak Haraam, a social drama directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and scripted by Biresh Chatterjee addressing themes of friendship. In 1975 he acted in a variety of film genres from the comedy Chupke Chupke, the crime drama Faraar to the romantic drama Mili. However 1975 was the year when he appeared in two landmark films of Hindi cinematic history – Deewar and Sholay.

Mile stone 2 – Sholay and Amar Akbar Anthony

After the phenomenal success of Sholay, Bachchan had consilidated his position in the industry. In between 1976 and 1984 he receive an unprecedented number of Filmfare Best Actor Award Awards and nominations. Sholay cemented Amitabh status as Bollywood’s pre-eminent action hero but he was flexible with roles. He played the romantic lead in Kabhie Kabhie and comic in Amar Akbar Anthony and Chupke Chupke. In 1977 he won the Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Amar Akbar Anthony. 1978 was possibly the most remarkable year of his career and he starred in all four of the highest grossing films of India in that year. In 1979 for the first time, Amitabh was required to use his singing voice for the film Mr. Natwarlal. His performance in the film saw him nominated for both the Filmfare Best Actor Award and the Filmfare Best Male Playback Awards.

Mile stone 3 – Injury during filming Coolie

The fatal injury of 1982 while filming Coolie was the turning point in Amitabh’s film career. Amitabh while shooting for the film had taken the liberty to perform his own stunts. In one of the scene he was required to fall onto a table and then on the ground. However as he jumped towards the table, the corner of the table struck his abdomen. He was operated and remained critically ill in hospital for many months, and at times was close to death. This was the time when world realized Amitabh’s star power.

The film was released in 1983 and partly due to the huge publicity of Amitabh’s accident the film was a great boxoffice success. Amitabh’s illness made him feel weak both mentally and physically and he decided to quit films and venture into politics.

Mile stone 4 – Politics and Retirement

In 1984, Amitabh took a break from acting and briefly entered politics in support of long-time family friend Rajiv Gandhi. He contested Allahabad’s Lok Sabha seat against H. N. Bahuguna, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and won by highest victory margin in general election history (68.2% of the vote). However, in 1987 he resigned after three years, leaving his term incomplete.

In 1988, Bachchan returned to films after a three year stint in politics and played the title role in Shahenshah, which was a box office success but his subsequent films failed. In 1990 he won his second National Film Award for Agneepath. In 1991 Hum looked like it might reverse this trend, but it did not happened and after the release of Khuda Gawah in 1992, Bachchan went into semi-retirement for five years.

Mile stone 5 – Producer and Actor

Amitabh Bachchan turned producer during his temporary retirement period and setup Amitabh Bachchan Corporation, Ltd. (A.B.C.L.) in 1996 with the vision of becoming a 10 billion rupees premier entertainment company by the year 2000. ABCL’s operations included film production, film distribution, production and marketing of television software, celebrity management, and event management. The first film produced by the company was Tere Mere Sapne which failed to do well at the boxoffice. ABCL produced a few other films viz. Ullasam, Mrityudaata, Major Saab, Aks, Viruddh none of which worked at boxoffice. ABCL was the main sponsor of the 1996 Miss World beauty pageant, Bangalore and lost millions due to the poor management of the event. Bachchan later attempted to revive his acting career and had average success with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and received positive reviews for Sooryavansham.

Mile Stone 6 – Television career and Return to prominence

In 2000, Amitabh stepped up to host, Kaun Banega Crorepati. The program piggyback on Amitabh’s charisma gained intense success. It strengthened Amitabh and his family financially and morally after the ABCL’s collapse. In 2000, Amitabh regained his prominence when he appeared in Yash Chopra’s box-office super hit, Mohabbatein directed by Aditya Chopra. The films like Ek Rishtaa, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham,Aks, Aankhen, Khakee, Dev, Black, Bunty Aur Babli, Sarkar, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Baabul, Eklavya, Nishabd, Cheeni Kum and Shootout at Lokhandwala were few of he film which established him again. As an actor, he continued to exploit a range of characters suiting with his profile, receiving critical acclaim for his performances. His first English language film Rituparno Ghosh’s The Last Lear premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2007 for which he received positive reviews from critics.

Family and Friends

Bachchan is married to Jaya Bhaduri also an actress. They have two children, Shweta Nanda,and Abhishek Bachchan, who is also an actor in Bollywood and is married to Aishwarya Rai. He sees great friends in Anil Ambani and Amar Singh.

Amar Singh helped him during a financial crisis due to the failure of his company ABCL. Anil Ambani’s Reliance Big Entertainment and Amitabh Bachchan got into the deal which could be worth $200m-$300m (final figure is not yet known). The new venture would look after film production, television series, reality shows, internet and mobile content besides live shows.




Reliance Big Entertainment and Amitabh Bachchan

The $1 billion deal between Reliance Big Entertainment and the production firms of Hollywood
stars Nicolas Cage, Jim Carrey, George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Brad Pitt and film-makers Chris Columbus and Jay Roach to make films was the beginning of the Anil Ambani’s journey towards transforming his company into global filmmaker. It seems the hunger of Anil Ambani is getting bigger by the day.

Reliance Big Entertainment, just after negotiation with Hollywood bigwig Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks where Anil has planned to infuse about $600 million he also convinced the legendary Amitabh Bachchan.

The deal could be worth $200m-$300m (final figure is not yet known) and would include film production, television series, reality shows, internet and mobile content besides live shows. Reliance Big Entertainment will look after managing marketing and the distribution of projects, and the Bachchans - Amitabh, Jaya, Abhishek and Aishwarya would come up with the creative inputs and would be handling the entertainment aspect of the project.

The joint venture will use brand Bachchans in films, production, TV series, internet, reality shows and mobile content. The other directors who have been signed up to direct films for the joint venture are Balakrishnan, Sujoy Ghosh, Rohan Sippy and Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi. No wonder the deal is in line with Reliance Big Entertainment strategy to tie up with the leading Indian and international creative talent, to build a new-age, future-ready global media and Entertainment Company.

The creative genius – Bachchans and the business genius – Anil will create magic and take entertainment to a different level. The joint venture and our strategy to tie up with Indian and international creative talent will help the company build a new-age global entertainment conglomerate.