Abhishek Bachchan had literally strayed into the acting profession after meticulously planning a career in business administration. He was expected to head ABCL at some stage. But he chose to drop out of management studies at the Boston University, USA, to follow in his father Amitabh Bachchan’s footsteps. They were huge footsteps, and it was a formidable legacy to live up to, what with his mother, Jaya Bachchan, classed among the finest actors ever.

The beginning was splendid, with JP Datta masterminding Bachchan Junior’s launch in Refugee (2000) in a tailor made role. But the films that followed like Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya (2000), Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke (2000) and Desh (2000) exposed his lack of grooming. He was not really geared to live up to the larger than life Bachchan image. But it wasn’t long before he overcame his handicap. He made a lasting impression in well-etched cameos in Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon (2003) and Phir Milenge (2004). He was brilliant as an angry young man in Yuva (2004) under the great Mani Ratnam’s direction. He sustained himself with impressive performances in Dhoom, Sarkar ,Dus , Bluffmaster and Bunty Aur Bablee. Sarkar fetched him the Filmfare award for Best Supporting Actor. He got a nomination for Bunty Aur Babli in the Best Actor category. His brilliantly nuanced performance in the role of the legendary Dirubhai Ambani in Mani Ratnam’s Guru (2007) took him to another level as an actor.Though Dhoom 2 was a dampener in comparison to Hrithik Roshan’s outstanding interpretation of a negative role; Abhishek seems to have finally found his métier. All eyes are now on Goldie Behl’s Drona, a film touted as another Krrish designed meticulously to showcase Bachchan Junior’s histrionic acumen, and Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar Raj.