Amitabh Bachchan’s Nostalgia: Sneaking Into Theatres On A Budget

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan recounted the memories of his college days, and shared how he bunked the classes and went to movies with his friends.

Born to Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and social activist Teji Bachchan, Big B did his schooling from Sherwood College in Nainital and graduated from Kirori Mal College at University of Delhi in 1962. 

Amitabh, who is currently seen as the host of season 15 of the quiz-based reality show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, welcomed Mousumee Paul to the hot seat in episode 47 of the show. 

During the game, the contestant asked the thespian: “Sir you said that you used to give proxy attendance. Was that in school or college? You have mentioned that you used to bunk school.” 

To this the actor replied: “No! I was in boarding school. So, we could not do any mischief there. But I did bunk lectures in college.” 

The contestant said: “Sir….What did you do after bunking college?” 

The ‘Sholay’ fame actor said: “I used to jump the wall and go to watch a film. I didn't have the money to watch a film. Someone would recommend us to watch a film because there is a good song and the actor has acted well.” 

“So, we used to wait outside the theatre. There is a man in the theatre who shows you your seat. We used to ask him to let us in for a few minutes. We had to request him before he would let us in. He would ask us to leave after listening to the song. And we used to leave. This has happened many times,” shared Big B. 

Amitabh Bachchan made his acting debut in 1969 with the movie ‘Saat Hindustani’, for which he had bagged the National Film Award for Best Newcomer. 

Meanwhile, the actor next has ‘Ganapath’, ‘The Umesh Chronicles’, ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, ‘Butterfly’, and ‘Thalaivar 170’ in the pipeline.

‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 15’ airs on Sony.