Big B hails from a Kayastha Hindu family. His father, Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a well-known Hindi poet, while mother, Teji Bachchan was a Sikh from Karachi (now in Pakistan). He completed his schooling from Sherwood College, Nainital. Later he pursued a science degree in science from Kirori Mal College of the Delhi University. He has a double MA (Master of Arts) degree. In his twenties, Bachchan gave up a job as freight broker for the shipping firm, Bird and Co, based in Calcutta, to pursue a career in acting.
He debuted in ‘Saat Hindustani’ (1979) and won the Best Newcomer Award. His career graph was rising steadily until ‘Sholay’ happened, which catapulted him to stardom. It became the highest grossing film of all time in India, earning Rs. 2,36,45,00,000, equivalent to US$ 60 million (after adjusting for inflation). In 1999, BBC India declared it the "Film of the Millennium" and, like ‘Deewar’, it has been cited by Indiatimes movies as amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films. In that same year, it got a special Filmfare award for Best Film of 50 Years.
His first English language film, Rituparno Ghosh`s ‘The Last Lear’ premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2007. He received positive reviews from critics who hailed his performance as his best ever since ‘Black’ supporting role in his first international film titled ‘Shantaram’ which is directed by Mira Nair and stars Hollywood actor Johnny Depp in the lead
In 1984, he briefly entered politics. He contested Allahabad`s Lok Sabha seat and won by highest victory margin in general election history (68.2% of the vote). However, he resigned after three years.