Amitabh Bachchan Defends Continuing Career At 84

Amitabh Bachchan discussed his decision to continue working, his health struggles and his decades-long acting journey in a birthday interview published by Rediff on October 11, 2026. The Bollywood veteran reflected on retirement questions, his career variety and his future plans while speaking about his life in cinema.

According to Rediff, Bachchan said he remains thankful for being able to work and for his physical condition matching his determination. He also recalled childhood birthday traditions involving his father, poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and a defining moment after his 1984 near-fatal accident during the filming of Coolie.

"What is there to celebrate? It's a day like any other day? I'm grateful that I still working, that my body is able to keep pace with my spirit," Bachchan said.

Bachchan recalled that his father's birthday poem gained deeper meaning after the 1984 accident, when his father became emotional while reciting it.

"It was a family tradition. But this tradition took an entirely new definition when after my near-fatal accident in 1984 (when Mr Bachchan nearly lost his life after a mis-aimed punch in his solar plexus while shooting Manmohan Desai's Coolie) my father recited my birthday poem. It was like a new life for me.

While reading the poem my father broke down. It was the only time I've seen him like that," Bachchan said.

The actor addressed repeated questions about whether he should retire, saying he does not see a reason to stop working.

"Why should I think of giving up? Do you plan to stop writing in the near future?" Bachchan said.

He challenged the continued discussion about his retirement and pointed to his own work as evidence of his commitment.

"Why are people so keen to retire me from my work?" Bachchan said.

Bachchan also spoke about serious health setbacks he has faced throughout his life and expressed gratitude for recovering from those moments.

"I have come to the jaws of death and then being pulled back. Someone somewhere has protected me all these years," Bachchan said.

The actor said he does not focus on marketing himself and instead highlighted the range of films he has worked on across different genres.

"I have no idea about what sells and what doesn't. I'm bad with economics and finance. I've never known how to market myself. But I think if you look at my career graph you'll see there have been very few other actors with this kind of variety," Bachchan said.

He described moving between different styles of cinema, from sensitive films to commercial projects.

"I started with K A Abbas and Hrishikesh Mukherjee doing more sensitive cinema. Then Salim-Javed wrote my more commercial films," Bachchan said.

Bachchan cited examples of contrasting roles that shaped his career.

"Wherever there was a Deewaar there was an Amar Akbar Anthony. Where there was a Muqaddar Ka Sikandar there was also a Chupke Chupke," Bachchan said.

He added that he also pursued serious roles to balance perceptions about commercial cinema.

"I have done a more serious kind of cinema in Saudagar and Main Azaad Hoon to countermand criticisms of over-commercialisation," Bachchan said.

Bachchan said he has accepted his position as a senior actor and continues to choose work from that perspective.

"I've now found acceptability as a senior character. So I'm taking it from there," Bachchan said.

On directing, Bachchan said he does not plan to move behind the camera because he does not consider himself sufficiently trained in that craft.

"I can't even dream of it. Because I don't even know the craft well enough. Other creative people throw a gauntlet at me, and I pick it up. But that's it," Bachchan said.

He explained that he offers suggestions on sets but leaves final decisions to directors.

"It's difficult for me to go beyond that. On the sets, I provide inputs when I feel strongly about it and then leave it to the director to accept or reject my suggestions," Bachchan said.

Bachchan said directors often reject his suggestions and that he respects their authority on a production.

"Most of the time they reject my inputs. And happily those films have done well. So I feel my suggestions are not worth taking. Otherwise all my directors have been extremely compliant," Bachchan said.

He added that he believes directors lead film productions and that he has tried to be cooperative as an actor.

"But then I haven't been a difficult actor to work with me. I always believe the director is the captain of the ship," Bachchan said.

Looking ahead, Bachchan said he still has personal ambitions outside acting, including learning music and spending more time with family.

"Oh, lots! To play the piano. To work with Guru Dutt. To spend more time with my family," Bachchan said.