January 4th, 2009. Bachchanalia”, a book dedicated to the films and memorabilia of Bollywood’’s superstar Amitabh Bachchan, was released in Mumbai on Saturday.
Bachchanalia: The Films and Memorabilia of Amitabh Bachchan is co-authored by noted film writer Bhawana Somaaya.
“I am grateful and very humbled by this release and I don”t deserve it but I am thankful to the publishers and to Bhawana Somaaya for bringing this book out,” said Amitabh Bachchan.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, daughter-in-law of Amitabh Bachchan was also present at the function.
“As a family we are very proud and humbled at the same time by this wonderful gesture of the release of the book and we are looking forward to going through it (the book),” said Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Bollywood actor Amir Khan was guest of honour of the programme.
The book is dedicated to the works of arguably one of the greatest actor of the Indian silver screen, Amitabh Bachchan. It is a unique documentation of Bachchans journey of the film world, illustrated through rare and exclusive film posters and publicity materials. 

The book written by popular film journalist Bhawana Somaya was lanuched by none other than the Bollywood's popular superstar Aamir Khan who was the guest of honor at the function.

For all those who are wondering what this is all about, 'Bachchanalia' is a book on the legendary icon Amitabh Bachchan with pictures and stills. This piece of memorabilia is devised by senior journalist Bhavana Somaaya along with the Osians Centre for Archiving, Research and Development (CARD). 

"Bachchanalia is very pictorial and boasts of vintage priceless poster designs. It's very interestingly done with snippets of my films, and interesting trivia." says Big B.

Amitabh Bachchan is a legend who has ruled and mesmerized the hearts of a billion plus people of India. From seventies to this day his charm has not diminished and who always comes with better and better performances.

At an age when most Bollywood actors retire not only from the Bollywood, but also from active life, he remains steadfast, giving hits after hits and mesmerizing people with his legendary acting skills.

The man got his break in Bollywood after a letter of introduction from the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, as he was a friend of her son Rajiv Gandhi. This is how Amitabh made an entry in Bollywood, starting with Zanjeer, co-starred with his future wife-to-be Jaya Bhaduri, and since then there has been no looking back. He married Jaya Bhaduri, an actress in her own rights, he has two kids, Shweta and Abhishek. Shweta has been married, lives a non-filmy life and has a child. 

Being friends with Rajiv Gandhi got him to decide to run for seat in the Congress from his hometown but had to leave midterm because of controversies, particularly after Rajiv and he were implicated in the now infamous "Bofors" case along with the U.K. based Hinduja Brothers. After a four year break, he was back in the unsuccessful Mrityudaata (1997), a comeback which the actor wanted to forget. Critics written him off but his career was saved with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998). But four flops in 1999 and incurring debt of over 90 Crores rupees of his sinking company ABCL saw him at an all-time low. 
To make matters worse, after the defeat of the Congress party, Amitabh lost considerable political support, the opposition made him a target, and his credit rating deteriorated to such an extent that a leading nationalized bank, Canara Bank, sued him for outstanding loans. He did bounce back, presenting the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire called "Kaun Banega Crorepati?" (2000). After a series of hits with Mohabbatein (2000), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) and Baghban (2003) and his most recent Khakee (2004), a 60 plus Bachchan is showing no signs of slowing down and proving the critics wrong once again.

But the legendary actor had reason to give the nod to Neville Tuli, founder of pioneering arts institution Osian’s, to publish and design Bachchanalia: The Films and Memorabilia of Amitabh Bachchan.

Osian’s already boasts of an auction house, archive and film house, its world renowned film festival... and now with Bachchanalia, it launches its publishing and design division.

Penned by noted film journalist Bhawana Somaya, the biography adopts an interesting format. Amitabh says, “It’s not the heavy reading type of book that’s filled with words. This particular biography is very pictorial and boasts of vintage priceless poster designs. It’s very interestingly done with snippets of my films, and interesting trivia. They’ve captured the last 40 years of Indian cinema — its changing history, trends, tastes...”
Neville adds, “India has great love for cinema, but no cinematic culture. We intend to build bridges where no bridge has been built. And with Bachchanalia, we have for the first time married text and imagery, and brought about a co-ordination between the eye and the mind. We aim to build an extensive, organised and refined database of cinema, that’s also rich in presentation.” 

Meanwhile, the Osian’s Literary Agency inaugurated in 2007 is set to be merged with the publication and design division and would focus on illustrated books on art, cinema, architectural heritage, popular culture and philosophy. Tuli, Founder-Chairman, Osian’s said, “It is our great joy that our first publication, Bachchanalia, is on the films an memorabilia of one of the greatest actor-star’s of world cinema  Amitabh Bachchan.

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