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There are stories and more stories about how Dr. Amitabh Bachchan made his first beginning, took his first step ever in Hindi film. He has told his story himself in his autobiography, "Amitabh Bachchan - To B Or Not To B”. But I have had the privilege of knowing the truth from the man who gave him the opportunity to take his first decision to take up the opportunity he was offered, an offer which came from the man who has made a difference to many lives, the truth according to Padma Shri Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, the man who gave me a reason to live and the one man who really knows the truth about how Amitabh Bachchan started his career as an actor.

Abbas was a man who kept making films even though his films didn't work at the box office and he kept loosing his own money which he earned by writing articles, short stories, books and scripts for other filmmaker like Raj Kapoor who made some of his biggest hits which were based on the scripts written by Abbas. Raj Kapoor was so grateful to Abbas that he called Abbas "my soul, my mind and the pillar of my company, R.K. Films” Abbas was known as one of the first few filmmakers who made films on topical and timely subjects which he created from the headlines of newspaper and from every day happenings of life.

Abbas was inspired by the liberation of Goa from the Portuguese, a victory one by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India and his friend and Defense Minister V.K. Krishna Menon over a power like Portugal which occupied Goa for centuries. It was also a victory of hundreds and thousands of jawans of the Indian army. He Abbas decided to make a film on the subject, the role played by seven Indian, six young man and a woman in the struggle. He was happy when he found all the seven artists to play the seven characters and was ready to start shooting in Goa.

There were just four days left for his unit to live for Goa when there was a crisis created by a young man who was also very close to Abbas, who was brought up by him and was even his assistant, Tinnu Anand, the son of his best friend, Inder Raj Anand, the first Indian film writer who was paid a price that was as good as the price paid to any big star. Tinnu gave his 'Mamoojaan” uncle the shock of his life when he very timidly told him that he could not go to Goa and do the film which was now called "Saat Hindustani”. Abbas felt he was joking, he was used to the little pranks played by Tinnu. The young Tinnu however was serious. He told his 'Mamoojaan” that he had another tempting option. He had received a letter from the greatest ever Indian filmmaker, Satyajit Ray as his assistant. It was Abbas himself who had asked Ray to take Tinnu as one of his assistants and now his own idea was creating a crisis for him! Abbas was furious how could Tinnu do this to him he almost thundered to bring the five-storied building down, that was how people described his voice when he lost his temper. He calmed down and finally told Tinnu that he would let him go to Calcutta only on the condition that he find a replacement for him within two days or it was certainly a big no for him.

Tinnu was in a fix. He did not know what to do. Then an unexpected idea struck him like a flash. He put his hand into his back-pocket and culled out his purse. Abbas asked him if he was working some magic. Little did Abbas and Tinnu know that Tinnu was working the kind of magic which would shake up the world one day. He remembered he was carrying a photograph of a young man given to him by Neena, his friend in Delhi. She had told him it was the photograph of her friend who was from a very good family and who was having a very good job in Calcutta but was very interested in making it in Hindi film. Tinnu placed the photograph of the unknown young man before Abbas who had one look and asked Tinnu where the young man was and asked him to send a message to come down to Bombay and he was willing to pay his one way third class fair from Calcutta to Bombay. Tinnu immediately called his friend in Delhi and got his a telephone number, spoke to him and asked him come down to Bombay. Tinnu did all this frantically.

The young man flew down to Bombay with his brother, contacted Tinnu who took the two to Abbas. The two brothers found Abbas and he asked "inn dono mein actor kaun banna chahta hain?”. One of them spoke up and said "Main sir” the voice was rich. He introduced himself and told Abbas all that he could. Abbas asked him if he was willing to give up his job for which he was being paid a handsome salary of Rupees three and half thousand a month because he very clearly told him that even if he was selected to play the role he would pay him a total sum of Rupees five thousand for which he would have to work for forty days at a stretch in Goa. It was an offer accepted by all the other six artists which included leading actors like Utpal Dutt from Calcutta and Madhu from Kerala and Anwar Ali, brother of the famous comedian Mehmood from Banglore. The young man was silent and so was his brother. Abbas read meaning into their silence and gave them a night time to think over his offer and report to him the next morning at 11 if they were willing to work according his terms and conditions or he would look for someone else.

The two brothers found a place to rest for the night. They did not sleep. They discussed sudden problem this offer made by Abbas. They went over the achievements of Abbas and finally took a decision they would go and meet Abbas. The next morning they reach his office ten minutes before 11. Abbas was already there, waiting for them. He made them set on two steel chair while he sat across a large old fashioned wooden table. He came to the point. He asked the brother who had said he wanted to be an actor what his decision was. The two brother looked at each other and said they were willing to work in his film. That was not the end of the test for the young man. He was asked what he had done as an actor. He then told him that he would have to live in a dormitory where the entire unit would live. The young man agreed than came that dramatic moment. Abbas asked the two brothers for their names for the first time. The brother who wanted to be an actor said his name was Amitabh Bachchan. The other brother said he was Ajitabh Bachchn. The names force Abbas to stop for a moment and he then asked them if they were in any way related to the well-known poet Harivanshrai Bachchan. They said they were his sons. Abbas shook his head and the said asked them for their fathers telephone number. He picked up the phone and called their father. The brothers look anxious. Abbas spoke to Bachchan, who was his friend. He told him that his sons were sitting with him and one of them, Amitabh wanted to be an actor. He asked Bachchan if the boy had his permission or had run away from home. The father laughed and said if he, Abbas was giving him a break as an actor he had absolutely no objection. Abbas heaved a sigh of relief. The two brothers look nervous for the first time in several hour. Abbas then drafted a contract with the help of his secretary, Abdul Rehman. The young man signed the contract without having any sense of premonition that he was not signing his name but writing his name down history. He was then given two days to get ready to live for Goa. He said he would not need to take anything much because they would be shooting almost round the clock. Abbas completed the film and at the end of it patted Amitabh on his back and said he was confident that he would make it as a good actor if he made the right choice when it came to roles. The film was released. It did not do very well like most of the films made by Abbas but Amitbh was marked out as an actor with a difference. His worked was seen by a friend of Abbas, Hrishikesh Mukherjee who cast him in Anand. He then did a film called "Bombay to Goa”. The ruling writers of the time, Salim and Javed saw just two scenes from the film and recommended him as the hero to Prakash Mehra who was making 'Zanjeer” for which he was looking for a hero after Dev Anand, Dharmendra and Raaj Kumar had turned down his offer. Mehra reluctantly and almost in frustration agreed to cast him as the angry young police officer in his film. The film was released on a Friday morning. During the interval Amitabh kicked the chair on which Pran was to sit on and the audience roared with applause. At the end of the first day first show a superstar called Amitabh Bachchan was born and has never looked back during the last thirty-six years. And he never forgets Philomena Apartment, Juhu where Abbas lived and where he signed his first film to create history.