Since his debut in 1969 with Saat Hindustani, Bollywood Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has acted in approximately 146 films and is soon racing towards becoming one of those rare main stream superstars who has acted in 150 Bollywood films. In his career spanning for around 40 years, Bachchan has been a part of 46 Hit films and around 40 average grossers i.e. film where producers broke even and made minor profits.

To put things to perspective, the success ratio of Amitabh Bachchan is 59%, despite having acted in almost 150 films. An interesting point to note here is that, since his debut Amitabh Bachchan has had one release every year except 1970, 1987, 1993, 1995, and 1996, which means, he has had a release in 34 years out of his 39-year working career.

We have often read about the craze of Amitabh Bachchan, but a glance at the kind of success his films witnessed at the peak of his career just goes on to prove that he is indeed the biggest superstar that Bollywood has seen till date. Popularly known as Angry Young Man, Amitabh Bachchan’s first hit movie was Anand in 1971, however that was a multi-starrer with Rajesh Khanna in lead. The film, which established Amitabh Bachchan as a star to look out for in the industry was Zanjeer (1973), which was his first collaboration with the iconic writer duo of Salim – Javed. Ironically, he wasn’t the first choice for the character of Inspector Vijay.

Decoding Megastar Amitabh Bachchan: 11 Blockbusters, 12 Super Hits, 23 Hits and counting….
Amitabh Bachchan Box Office Analysis Hits, and Blockbusters: 11 Blockbusters, 11 Super Hits, 24 Hits & Counting

The film was first offered to Dharmendra, who didn’t due to the film due to personal differences with the director. After his exit, the script went to Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand, and both were not quite impressed with the script. It seems as if Bachchan was destined to do the film and make the character of Vijay his own. While director Prakash Mehra was skeptical to sign Bachchan for the film, it was writer duo Salim-Javed and actor, Pran who convinced him get Big B on the board and the rest is history.

After Zanjeer, Amitabh Bachchan started delivering a streak of hit films in the form of Abhimaan, Namak Haram, Benaam, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, Majboor to name a few. While the above-mentioned films established Bachchan as a star, it was Deewar, which took his stardom to another level.

Just like Zanjeer, Amitabh Bachchan wasn’t the first choice for Deewar as well as director, Yash Chopra wanted to cast Rajesh Khanna for the film. However, the Salim-Javed yet again convinced the director to sign Bachchan for the film. As Vijay Verma, Amitabh Bachchan delivered one of the best performances of his career, and the film further strengthened the tag allotted to him i.e. Angry Young Man.

Deewar was followed by a few other successful films like Chupke Chupke, Sholay, Kabhi Kabhie, Adaalat, Hera Pheri, Amar Akbar Anthony, Trishul, Don and Mukkadar Ka Sikandar. By the end of decade (1970 – 1979), Bachchan had reached the pinnacle of stardom.

Such was the craze of Amitabh Bachchan that renowned book publishers, India Book House Pvt. Ltd. with the consent of Amitabh Bachchan came up with a comic series called The Adventures of Amitabh Bachchan in which the actor featured as himself i.e. a superstar, who had the ability to morph into superhero supremo, whenever a serious crime was committed in the city. The comic book had a new issue every month and Big B used to personally sign the first page of every copy as a part of memento. After a successful run for two years, the magazine for discontinued for reasons best known to the publishers.

Amitabh Bachchan’s success streak, which started with Anand in 1971 lasted till Hum, which released in 1991. Although Bachchan slowed down in terms of hits after the release of Mard in 1985, his films still opened to bumper response at the ticket window and it was the content which didn’t support the film in long run. Bachchan started his second innings at the Box-Office with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan in 1998, following which he started playing characters closer to his age. From 1998 till 2018, Bachchan has been a part of ensemble films. Although his stardom took a backseat in the second innings of the career, the sheer presence of the superstar in any ensemble cast escalates the excitement around the film.

Here’s a look at Amitabh Bachchan’s hit movies list hit and blockbusters:

  • Anand: Hit
  • Zanjeer: Super Hit
  • Abhimaan: Hit
  • Namak Haram: Hit
  • Benaam: Hit
  • Roti Kapda Makaan: Super Hit
  • Majboor: Hit
  • Deewaar: Blockbuster
  • Chupke Chupke: Hit
  • Sholay: Blockbuster
  • Kabhi Kabhie: Super Hit
  • Hera Pheri: Super Hit
  • Adaalat: Hit
  • Khoon Pasina: Hit
  • Amar Akbar Anthony: Blockbuster
  • Parvarish: Super Hit
  • Kasme Vaade: Super Hit
  • Trishul: Super Hit
  • Don: Super Hit
  • Muqaddar Ka Sikandar: Blockbuster
  • Mr. Natwarlal: Hit
  • Suhaag: Blockbuster
  • Dostaana: Hit
  • Ram Balram: Hit
  • Naseeb: Blockbuster
  • Laawaris: Blockbuster
  • Yaarana: Hit
  • Kalia: Hit
  • Namak Halaal: Super Hit
  • Khuddar: Hit
  • Andha Kanoon: Hit
  • Coolie: Blockbuster
  • Sharaabi: Hit
  • Geeraftaar: Super Hit
  • Mard: Blockbuster
  • Akhree Rasta: Hit
  • Shahenshah: Hit
  • Aaj Ka Arjun: Hit
  • Hum: Hit
  • Bade Miyan Chote Miyan: Hit
  • Mohabattein: Blockbuster
  • Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham: Blockbuster
  • Baghban: Hit
  • Bunty Aur Babli: Super Hit
  • Piku: Hit
  • Pink: Hit

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