Amitabh Bachchan: The actor who ruled millions of hearts turned 80, a glimpse of Mr. Bachchan's 53 years in Bollywood.

amitabh Bachchan in a scene from the famous 1979 film Kaala Pathar

 Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, who rules millions of hearts, has turned 80 today.  On this occasion, an exhibition of the early films of this Indian superstar and his rare photographs has been organized.

 The exhibition was launched on October 8 and is the first of its kind exhibition of Amitabh's early films organized by non-profit organization 'Film Heritage Foundation' in 22 theaters across 17 cities of the country.

 Led by award-winning filmmaker Shivendra Singh, the non-profit organization also spearheaded efforts to preserve 60 of Bachchan's films in a temperature-controlled archive in the city of Mumbai.

 The majority of the photographs in this exhibition of around 50 photographs have been sourced primarily from the collection of film historian, writer and memorabilia collector SMM Osaja.

 This article presents a selection of rare images from the exhibition that highlight the work of the renowned actor.

This picture of Bachchan and his wife Jaya was taken during the shooting of the film 'Abhiman'.  This hit movie was directed by famous director Rishi Kesh Mukherjee.

 In the film, Bachchan played the role of a male singer, who cannot cope with his wife's success.  His wife is also played by Jaya Bachchan in the film and she surpasses her husband's popularity in the film as a singer.

 The film was released in 1973 just a month after Amitabh and Jaya's wedding and was a box office success.

 It should be noted that 'Abhiman' was one of the early hits of Amitabh Bachchan's career.

Bollywood's leading director Subhash Ghai chose Bachchan to star in a film called 'Deva', but the film was never released and the reasons are never clear.

 According to reports, Bachchan was apparently playing the role of an advertising criminal in the film, but the shoot was halted after the filming of some scenes.

 The film was similar to the films that came in the mid-1980s, but Ghai and Bachchan did not work together again after the film was shelved.

 Later in an interview, Subhash Ghai said, "I regret that I haven't been able to work with Amitabh Bachchan yet."  I went to him with 'Diva', it is my fault that the film did not get made.  Then I didn't get another chance.

 "I thought of doing a film with him many times but when it comes to presenting Amitabh Bachchan, you need a project that suits his status and character," he said.

This picture of Bachchan was taken on the sets of the movie 'Bandhe Haat'.  In it, the person he is straddling is actor Ranjeet.

 He played the villain in this 1973 film.  Behind these two actors is the director OP Goyal.

Bachchan played a double role as a thief in this crime and revenge film.  It was one of his early films which did not do well at the box office.

 This picture of Amitabh Bachchan and actress Rakhi was taken on the sets of the 1979 film 'Jarmana'.  The film was directed by Harishkesh Mukherjee.  Producer Debesh Ghosh is seen in the background of both the actors.

Writer Jai Arjun Singh says that Bachchan played a playboy in it.

 Jarmana was one of the eight films in which Mukherjee and Bachchan worked together.

 According to Arjun Singh, Amitabh Bachchan once said that he "didn't like to take credit for his performance in Mukherjee's films because he was only performing what the director told him with his skill."

 

 This photo of Amitabh and famous cinematographer Jal Mistry (left) was taken during the outdoor shooting of the 1985 hit action film 'Mard'.  The film was directed by Manmohan Desai.

 Desai is generally credited with making Amitabh Bachchan a mass market hero.

 In the film, Bachchan plays the son of a freedom fighter (who participated in India's freedom struggle from British rule).

 A film critic of that time wrote that 'His power in the film was uncontroversial'.  He was a superman whose match had no match, neither male nor female.

 Despite this, some people doubted the film's success.  A critic in a film magazine wrote, "It is largely a reflection of the vulgarity of our audience that a film like 'Mard' can even be a hit."

 Nevertheless, it was one of the highest-grossing films of the year.

This is a rare picture of Bachchan on the sets of the 1998 film 'Hero Heera Lal' directed by Ketan Mehta.

 Mehta (far left) is also in the frame of this photo.  Apart from them, actress Sanjana Kapoor (third from right), comedian Johnny Lever and producer Gul Anand (far right) can be seen.

 The hero of this film was Naseeruddin Shah who played the role of an auto rickshaw driver in the film.  He meets a new actress Roopa (i.e. Sanjana Kapoor) and both fall in love.

 Bachchan is in a guest role in this film.  This was the only time Mehta and Bachchan worked together