Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan is listed among the 100 greatest film stars of all time. The poll, conducted by Britain's Channel 4 television and aired May 5, includes Al Pacino, Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins and Sean Connery.
Bachchan, who was voted the star of the millennium in a poll conducted by BBC online earlier, is number 92 on Channel 4's list.
Bachchan debuted in Saat Hindustani (Utpal Dutt, Madhu). The movie, unfortunately, did not do well at the box office. But he made a mark in later films like Zanjeer (Jaya Bhaduri, Pran, Ajit) and Deewar (Parveen Babi, Shashi Kapoor, Neetu Singh), which popularised the role of the 'angry young man' and made Bachchan Hindi cinema's uncrowned king.
Bachchan has acted in over 70 films, many of which, particularly those from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, were resounding successes.
Lord Lawrence Olivier, Sir Alec Guiness and Sir John Giegud are missing from the star list. The voters displayed a strong preference for living actors, led by Al Pacino at No 1. The rest of the top 10 included Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey, Harrison Ford, Jack Nicholson, Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery, Ewan McGregor and Cary Grant.
Jane Fonda (at 98) and Michael Douglas (at 100) made it to the list, but their fathers didn't. Audrey Hepburn is ranked number 13. Marylin Monroe came in at number 39, Bruce Lee and Sidney Poitier are listed at numbers 49 and 52 respectively. Elizabeth Taylor finds herself at number 77.
"Although all the classic greats are there, the final top five demonstrates there are modern greats who are established and recognised up there alongside those classic movie stars," said John Piper, who produced the Channel 4 programme.
PTI
