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When icons unite, stories flow. The grand audio launch of the upcoming Tamil actioner Vettaiyan, which reunites Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan, 33 years after their last screen outing Hum, witnessed an emotional moment when the former spoke about the megastar’s bankruptcy in the 1990s. Bachchan launched his company, Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited, in the 1990s, but it failed to take off and the firm soon went bankrupt, leaving the Bachchan family in a lot of debt.
At the audio launch of Vettaiyan, which Amitabh Bachchan joined via video conferencing, Rajinikanth recalled when the actor “broke into a big loss” when he was producing films, as he hailed Big B’s resilience and drive.
“He was not even able to pay his watchman. His Juhu home came into Public Bidding. The whole Bollywood was laughing at him,” Rajinikanth was quoted as saying by India Today. The screen icon recalled how Bachchan didn’t give up and started working harder to overcome the situation, starting with doing advertisements and hosting the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati.
Rajinikanth said, “The world will just wait for your downfall. In three years, he did all the ads, KBC earned all the money and bought back three homes along with the Juhu home on the same street. He is such an inspiration. He is 82-years-old, and he is working for 10 hours a day (sic).”
The actor also mentioned Amitabh Bachchan’s close relations with the Gandhi family, noting how the megastar never took undue advantage of his personal connections to influence the industry.
Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi paid Amitabh Bachchan a visit when he was in the hospital following his near-fatal injury. (Photo: Express Archive)
“Amitabh ji’s father (Harivansh Rai Bachchan) was a great writer. He could have done anything for the influence he had. But without family influence, he came to a career alone. Once Amitabh ji had a terrible accident. At that time, Indira Gandhi had gone to a conference abroad. When she came to know about the accident, she immediately came to India. Only then did everyone know that Rajiv Gandhi and Amitabh ji had studied together,” he added.
In a 1989 article, Amitabh’s father-in-law, Taroon Coomar Bhaduri, recalled when the Gandhis visited Amitabh in hospital after he met with a near-fatal accident. He wrote, “Mrs Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi also flew in separately. To Mrs Gandhi, Amit again said, ‘Aunty, I can’t sleep.’ Mrs Gandhi broke down and sobbed, ‘No, my son. You will sleep. I also don’t get sleep sometimes, so what?’”
Amitabh Bachchan has spoken about this tough phase of his life previously as well. It was during this time that he went to the late filmmaker Yash Chopra and asked him for a role. Soon, he was cast in the role of Narayan Shankar in the film, Mohabbatein. Around the same time, he started hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati, the show he continues to host till date.
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