Politics led to Bachchan taking a mid-1980s sojourn from the big-screen, the then-Congress neta turning in the starched white khadi for black leather and an arm made of chain-mail. Shahenshah was a smash hit, but his subsequent films bombed.

After Khuda Gawah in 1992, Bachchan left the greasepaint for five years, then returned in a corporate avatar with the Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited.

As his ABCL dream turned sour, Bachchan produced his own comeback film Mrityudaata in 1997, another dud. His forthcoming films left audiences cold, yet the megastar bounced back against all odds with television, resurrecting himself to complete glory in 2000 with Kaun Banega Crorepati.

Soon, as he took over living rooms, power and good films returned, and Bachchan remains Bollywood's biggest, ever.

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