His grandfather was an eminent poet, his father is the biggest of superstars, his mother a veteran actor and his wife a former Miss World who hit the jackpot in Bollywood. Abhishek Bachchan could have easily followed his father’s legacy and continued as the next angry-young-man of Bollywood, instead in the past 10 years since he debuted as an actor in J.P. Dutta’s Refugee, Abhishek has managed to carve a niche for himself in the film industry. His next film, Raavan is riding high on expectations too.
Let’s have a look at the many faces of Abhishek Bachchan over the years…
Abhishek Bachchan made his debut with ‘Refugee’ in 2000 where he played a nameless immigrant opposite Kareena Kapoor. After this, he soon got engaged to Kareena’s sister Karishma Kapoor in 2002.
Abhishek then starred with his future wife, former Miss World Aishwarya Rai in the movie, ‘Dhai Akshar Prem Ke’ in 2000. His penchant for beauties didn’t stop there; he was also paired with former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen in ‘Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai’ (2001).
Abhi shared screen space with Karishma Kapoor for the first time in ‘Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya Hai’; the film led to their engagement in 2002. However, Abhishek’s joy was short-lived as the couple called it quits in January 2003.
Meanwhile, after delivering a string of duds, junior Bachchan struck gold with Mani Ratnam’s ‘Yuva’ in 2004 and won his first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He Jodi with Rani Mukherjee extended to ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ and ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’ for which he took the black statuette home again. Rumours of his romantic alliance with Rani were rife then.
Never the one to join any filmi camps, the actors association with director Ram Gopal Varma began with ‘Naach’ and was cemented in ‘Sarkar’ and ‘Sarkar Raj’, where Abhishek played the reel life son to his father Amitabh. So much so that Abhishek did not think twice before he made a special appearance in the disastrous film, ‘Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag’ (2007).
2006 and 2007 were good years for Abhishek and Aishwarya, with two successful films ‘Dhoom 2’ and ‘Guru’ under the belt. Abhishek announced their engagement a couple of days after the release of ‘Guru’ and they tied the nuptial knot 3 months later in a gala wedding ceremony, amidst the media gaze.
Abhishek’s versatility was in no doubt after he carried the role of a ‘pretend-gay-nurse’ with John Abraham in ‘Dostana’ on one hand and the American-born-confused-desi grappling with his roots in ‘Delhi 6’. Post this, he turned tables on his father and played daddy-dearest to a pre-teen Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Paa’ in 2009.
The junior Bachchan is now back with his favourite unit, ace director Mani Ratnam and wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, in ‘Raavan’ where he plays the dreaded outlaw Beera Munda. But here, instead of romancing Ash, he kidnaps her into the jungles. A famous line from the film’s promos sums it up for Abhishek. “Dus Sir Wala”!
