Bollywood actors become stars overnight after giving big hits. But despite this, they also have to do many advertisements and brand partnerships to maintain their popularity. But this was not the case in earlier times. Amitabh Bachchan who is a big name of Bollywood and now appears in many commercials on TV, used to shy away from doing commercials.
He had come to Mumbai to become an actor and he did not want to do any advertisement. Even if they had to sleep on the road or make a living by driving a cab, they didn’t have to advertise. In 1999, in a conversation with Veer Sanghvi, Amitabh had told that his company ABCL (Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited) had sunk into huge debt.
Amitabh Bachchan told that when he came to Mumbai, he was offered to work in advertisements, for which he was also being paid 10,000 rupees, which was a huge amount in the year 1960s. At that time he used to earn 50 rupees a month by working on the radio. But he was irritated by the very name of advertising. So he turned down that offer.
Amitabh used to feel that if he took the offer of advertising in the greed of money, then he would not be able to work in the film world. He had come to Mumbai to become an actor and that was his only focus. He had said, “I came to Bombay with a driving license and nothing else. I was told that if I don’t become an actor, I will drive a cab.” He said that my whole intention was to act.
Amitabh used to sleep on Marine Drive: Amitabh Bachchan had to spend many nights sleeping on the bench of Marine Drive. But despite this it was his big decision to turn down Rs 10,000 at that time. The actor told that at that time he did not have a place to live. You cannot stay for long even at friends’ house. So I spent some days of my life on the benches of Marine Drive, where I saw the biggest rats in the world.