The star leaves films for politics, turns corporate

Bachchan took a hiatus from movies in the 1980s during his political stint but when he returned, the Bollywood landscape had changed massively. His films were not doing as well as before, and his stardom wasn’t yielding the same kind of results. So in the 1990s, Big B turned corporate and started Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL) in 1995.

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Rs 90 crore debt, 55 legal cases

The company produced a few films, including Tere Mere Sapne and Mrityudata, and expanded its operations when it organised the Miss World competition in 1996 in Bengaluru. They only had four months to organise the competition but they took on the challenge. The event faced a lot of opposition in India, and the company lost a lot of money. So much so that Bachchan had to declare bankruptcy in 1999.

In an earlier chat with Vir Sanghvi, Bachchan recalled the time when his house was seized. “Yes, it was, in fact, attached. All assets, all properties were attached. So when you sign a personal guarantee, then you are personally liable to pay that and so there were about Rs 90 crore to be paid back,” he recalled. He shared that there “about 55 legal cases” against him and creditors were knocking on his door every single day.

Amitabh Bachchan’s ABCL was established in 1995.

“There were creditors on the door everyday, very embarrassing, very humiliating,” he said. Bachchan said that many people, who had previously shown interest in getting attached to his company, suddenly turned “hostile, became very humiliating and rude.” While speaking about how he landed in that situation, Bachchan said that he and his wife Jaya were personal guarantors in a lot of the deals, which turned out to be a bad decision in hindsight. “A lot of it was with government institutions like with Prasar Bharti, Doordarshan, lot of it with banks, financial institutions, personal loans and some of it were erroneously guaranteed by me and Jaya personally,” he said.

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In a chat with , he recalled, “I can never forget how creditors used to land at our door, be abusive, threatening and demanding, and worse still, when they came for ‘Kudkee’ at Prateeksha, our residence.”

‘Personal bank balance was zero’

The situation was dire, but Amitabh vowed not to make any compromises. In a 2017 video, later shared by Brut India, Bachchan recalled that he was in “crores of debt” at the end of the 1990s. “All sources of income were closed and my house was raided by the government. My personal bank balance was zero,” he said.

He shared that at this time, Dhirubhai Ambani offered him a helping hand. “Dhirubhai got to know about this. Without telling anyone, he told his younger son and my dear friend Anil, ‘He’s going through a bad time, give him some money’. The amount that he wanted to give me would have solved all my problems. However, I felt that I wouldn’t be able to accept his generosity,” he shared. Amitabh refused to take any money, and decided to work through his financial problems.

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Abhishek Bachchan (L) with father Amitabh Bachchan (R).

Borrowed money from staff to put food on the table

During this period, Amitabh’s son Abhishek Bachchan was studying at a university in Boston, USA. As Abhishek got to know about the gravity of the problem, he decided to move back to India and help his father. “I left my education because my father was going through this really rough time, financially,” Abhishek told Ranveer Allahbadia in an earlier chat.

Abhishek shared that the situation was such that Amitabh didn’t know how he was going to put the next meal on the table. Amitabh, at one point, even borrowed money from his staff just so the family could eat. “I said I can’t be here sitting in Boston when my father doesn’t know how he’s going to get dinner. And that’s how bad it was. And he said it publicly. He had to borrow money from his staff to put food on the table. I just felt morally obliged to be with him,” he shared.

Lost his house, bought it back in 3 years

As the situation got worse, Amitabh took a step back and decided to go back to his original profession – acting. “You sit back and think ‘What can I do?’ and I said, ‘You are an actor. Go back to acting so, that’s what I did. I went to Yash ji and said I am without a job. I need it,” he shared during Unforgettables in 2016. Amitabh signed Yash Chopra’s Mohabbatein during this time, which released months after the premiere of Kaun Banega Crorepati’s first season in July 2000.

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During the 1000th episode of KBC, in 2021, Bachchan teared up when he recalled the circumstances that brought him to the show. “Circumstances compelled me to take this on. You see, I wasn’t getting any films at that time, but after the show premiered, the kind of reactions I received made me believe that the world was with me,” he said.

Rajinikanth, who shares a warm friendship with Amitabh Bachchan, spoke about the veteran actor’s resilience at the audio launch of the 2024 film Vettaiyan. He shared that the actor worked 18 hours a day for three years, without a break, just so he could clear all his dues. “He did anything and everything. He did all kinds of ads. People in the Bombay industry laughed when they saw this. For three years, despite having many health issues, he worked for 18 hours a day and cleared all his dues,” he said.

During his bankruptcy, Bachchan had lost one of his family homes, and Rajinikanth revealed that Big B bought it back, all thanks to his hard work. “He bought back the old house; he bought a total of three houses in that same lane,” he said.

Amitabh Bachchan during the first season of KBC.

The early 2000s changed everything for Amitabh Bachchan. After the success of Mohabbatein and KBC, his career restarted and soon enough, he was back as the A-lister he used to be. In this phase of his career, Bachchan did many character roles and continues to do them even today. KBC, the show that brought him back, is currently in its 18th season, with him as teh host.

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The Bachcan family is way past that difficult patch now. As per the Hurun India Rich List 2026, the family’s wealth is valued at Rs 4,000 crore, making Bachchan one of the richest actors in the Hindi film industry.

He first made his fortune in the 1970s, and after losing it all in the 1990s, he managed to get it all back.