Amitabh Bachchan Was Banned By Media For 15 Years & The Reason Will Shock You (Photo Credit: Instagram/ Amitabh Bachchan)
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Amitabh Bachchan is a Megastar, and he rules the Box office even today. Fans die to watch his films on the silver screen, and there is not a single media house that would not like to interview or run stories around him. But do you know there was a come a time in his career when the media banned him? And that too for 15 long years??
Yes! You heard that right. During the ’70s when Mr Bachchan had just started gaining popularity for films like Zanjeer, Deewaar and Sholay, the actor was banned, and the reason will shock you. Keep scrolling further to know everything about it.
It happened in the year 1975 when India observed an Emergency that the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, had declared. During that time, the Bachchan family was close to the Gandhi family. In fact, because of Amitabh Bachchan’s friendship with Rajiv Gandhi, he even stepped foot into politics and won during the Allahabad elections.
It was during this time that many magazines and channels were banned. Certain reports doing the rounds back then stated that due to Amitabh Bachchan’s closeness with the Gandhi family, he used his influence to shut down a magazine. Censorship had been implemented in other magazines.
Due to this, a cold war brewed between the magazines and Mr Bachchan, and they banned the megastar. But it was only after Big B met with a fatal accident that the first article on him was published 15 years later.
The magazine offered a peace treaty by publishing an article on him. After Amitabh Bachchan’s movies started failing at the box office because of not much coverage and promotions, it is when Big B finally sat down with the MD of the magazine and cleared the air, ending the ban of fifteen years.
Amitabh Bachchan has openly spoken about this ban in his blog. Big B revealed that some sources had informed the media that it was he who had brought on the idea of the Emergency and a ban on the press. Deewar, Sharabi, Muquaddar ka Sikander, Lawaaris, Natwarlal, Bemisal, and so many many other films went blank because the media had banned him.
He further wrote, “They banning me was reasonable perhaps from their point of view. Not for me. I took on the challenge to ban them also from my life and have so far not disturbed that stand with certain modifications of course. During that 10-15 year period, they relentlessly negated my presence, deliberately closed information of me by their agencies, and kept me as persona non grata ..! I had my biggest hits and the most interesting films of that time. I fell during ‘Coolie’ and there seemed to be a genuine concern from the media over my condition.” Big B concluded by saying, “Things warmed up a bit after that and today they have all been acknowledged and accepted.”
