Amitabh Bachchan Reveals Why His Family Adopted ‘Bachchan’ Surname

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan took audiences by surprise after he revealed the fascinating story behind his legendary surname. The megastar recalled how his father, celebrated Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, rejected the caste system from childhood and chose “Bachchan” as the family's surname. The revelation came during an episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 18, when Bachchan discovered that contestant Dr. Jagriti shared his roots in Prayagraj and had also studied at the St. Mary’s Convent School of which the legendary actor is an alumni of. Recalling the admission process at the school, Bachchan said, “Kya baat kar rahein hain, arey devi ji woh humara bhi pehla school tha. Are aisa bolne ki jarurat nahi hain, lekin ismein ek bahut hi mahatvapurn baat hai joh babuji se humko pata chala.” (What are you saying! That was my very first school too.

There is a very important story in this that I learned from my father) He added, “Toh maa, babuji, humko le gaye St. Mary’s Convent main, aur waha naam likhna padta hain, sabh likhna padta hain. Waha ek column hai aapki jaati kya hain? Babuji jo thein bachpan se jaati-vaadh ke khilaf the, unko bilkul pasand nahi tha aur uska kabhi bhi unhone sweekar nahi kiya. Paheli baar, unhone kaha humari jaati Bachchan hain, uss naam se unhone likh diya, jaati Bachchan hain, pura naam hain iska Amitabh Bachchan.” (My mother and father took me to St. Mary’s Convent, where we had to fill in our name and all the details.

There was a column asking, ‘What is your caste?’ My father was against the caste system right from his childhood, he disliked it completely and never accepted it. For the first time, right there, he said, ‘Our caste is Bachchan.’ Under that name he filled in the form, caste is Bachchan, and the full name is Amitabh Bachchan) Talking about Amitabh Bachchan's original name at birth was Amitabh Srivastava. The actor was born October 11, 1942, in Allahabad, now Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. His father Harivansh Rai Bachchan was born into the Srivastava family, and went on to become one of the towering figures of modern Hindi literature. He is best known for his iconic Madhushala, while his other celebrated works include Madhubala, Madhukalash, Nisha Nimantran, Satrangini and the much-loved poems Agneepath and Jo Beet Gayi So Baat Gayi. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Hindi literature in 1976.

His literary work also reflected patriotic and national themes. During the 1965 India-Pakistan war, Harivansh Rai Bachchan reportedly wrote powerful lines on courage and fighting the enemy. Talking about Amitabh’s mother, Teji Bachchan, she was born Teji Suri in Lyallpur, Punjab, then part of British India. She belonged to a Punjabi Sikh family and was educated in Lahore, where she also taught psychology. She met Harivansh Rai Bachchan at a college event in Lahore, and the two married in Allahabad in 1941. A lover of theatre and the arts, Teji even played Lady Macbeth in her husband’s Hindi adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The couple were blessed with two sons, Amitabh and his younger brother Ajitabh Bachchan.

On the professional front, Amitabh who made his career debut in Bollywood with Saath Hindustani, met with umpteen number of failures in his initial stage as an artist. His turning point came during his movies like zanjeer Deewar trishul Kala Patthar and many others in the late 70's and early 80's era of Bollywood. The actor slowly and steadily went on to climb the success slider and become from being considered as an unpromising actor to the megastar of Indian film industry. On the personal front, Amitabh is married to the female Bollywood icon of the 70's era Jaya Bahaduri, who after marriage goes by the name of Jaya Bachchan.

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