Bengali
বাংলা Bangla
The word "Bangla" in Bengali script
Spoken in	Bangladesh, India (mainly in West Bengal); significant communities in UK, USA, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Burma, Canada
Native speakers	193 million  (2001)[1] Total: 230 million (2003)[2]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Assamese–Bengali Bengali
Writing system	Bengali script
Official status
Official language in	Bangladesh,  India (West Bengal, Tripura and Barak Valley) (comprising districts of south Assam- Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi)
Regulated by	Bangla Academy (Bangladesh) Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi (West Bengal)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	bn
ISO 639-2	ben
ISO 639-3	ben
Linguasphere	59-AAF-u (including Sylheti etc), 30 varieties: 59-AAF-ua...59-AAF-uk
Bengali-speaking area
This page contains Indic text. Without rendering support you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. More...
This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Bengali (Bengali: বাংলা Bangla [ˈbaŋla] ( listen)) is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script. With about 193 million native and about 230 million total speakers,^[2] Bengali is one of the most spoken languages (ranked sixth^[3]) in the world. The National song and the National anthem of India, and the National anthem of Bangladesh were composed in Bengali.

Along with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Bengali evolved circa 1000–1200 AD from the Magadhi Prakrit, which developed from a dialect or group of dialects that were close to, but different from, Vedic and Classical Sanskrit.^[4] It is now the primary language spoken in Bangladesh and is the second most commonly spoken language in India.^[5][6]

With a rich literary tradition arising from the Bengali Renaissance, Bengali binds together a culturally diverse region and is an important contributor to Bengali nationalism. In former East Bengal (today Bangladesh), the strong linguistic consciousness led to the Bengali Language Movement, during which on 21 February 1952, several people were killed during protests to gain its recognition as a state language of the then Dominion of Pakistan and to maintain its writing in the Bengali script. The day has since been observed as Language Movement Day in Bangladesh, and was proclaimed the International Mother Language Day by UNESCO on 17 November 1999.

Rabindranath Tagore

History[link]

Shaheed Minar, or the Martyr's monument, in Dhaka, commemorates the struggle for the Bengali language.

Pages from the Charyapada.

Bengali belongs to the eastern group of the Indo-Aryan languages, here marked in yellow.

Like other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Bengali arose from the eastern Middle Indo-Aryan languages of the Indian subcontinent. Magadhi Prakrit and Pali, the earliest recorded spoken languages in the region and the language of the Buddha, evolved into the Jain Prakrit or Ardhamagadhi "Half Magadhi" in the early part of the first millennium CE.^[7][8] Ardhamagadhi, as with all of the Prakrits of North India, began to give way to what are called Apabhraṃśa ("Corrupted grammar") languages just before the turn of the first millennium.^[9] The local Apabhraṃśa language of the eastern subcontinent, Purvi Apabhraṃśa or Abahatta ("Meaningless Sounds"), eventually evolved into regional dialects, which in turn formed three groups: the Bihari languages, the Oriya languages, and the Assamese-Bengali languages. Some argue that the points of divergence occurred much earlier—going back to even 500^[10] but the language was not static: different varieties coexisted and authors often wrote in multiple dialects. For example, Magadhi Prakrit is believed to have evolved into Abahatta around the 6th century which competed with the ancestor of Bengali for a period of time.^[11]

Usually three periods are identified in the history of Bengali:^[9]

1. Old Bengali (900/1000–1400)—texts include Charyapada, devotional songs; emergence of pronouns Ami, tumi, etc.; verb inflections -ila, -iba, etc. Assamese (Ahomiya) branches out in this period and Oriya just before this period (8th century-1300). The scripts and languages during this period were mainly influenced by the Kamrupi language (script-Kamrupa Prakrit) as the entire region- Assam, Bengal and parts of Bihar and Orissa was under the Kamrupa kingdom (now known as Assam).
2. Middle Bengali (1400–1800)—major texts of the period include Chandidas's Shreekrishna Kirtana; elision of word-final ô sound; spread of compound verbs; Persian influence. Some scholars further divide this period into early and late middle periods.
3. New Bengali (since 1800)—shortening of verbs and pronouns, among other changes (e.g. tahar → tar "his"/"her"; koriyachilô → korechilo he/she had done).

Historically closer to Pali, Bengali saw an increase in Sanskrit influence during the Middle Bengali (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu era) and also during the Bengal Renaissance.^{[12][citation needed]} Of the modern Indo-European languages in South Asia, Bengali and its neighbors, Oriya and Assamese (Ahomiya), in the east maintain a largely Pali/Sanskrit vocabulary base, as doesMarathi in the center-west. Standard Hindi and others such as Punjabi, Sindhi and Gujarati are more influenced by Arabic and Persian.^[13]

One should note that spoken Hindi and spoken Urdu are identical at base. However, the current standard literary form of Hindi employs a great deal of imported Sanskrit vocabulary, while the literary form of Urdu is replete with borrowings from Arabic and Persian.

Until the 18th century, there was no attempt to document Bengali grammar. The first written Bengali dictionary/grammar, Vocabolario em idioma Bengalla, e Portuguez dividido em duas partes, was written by the Portuguese missionary Manuel da Assumpção between 1734 and 1742 while he was serving in Bhawal Estate.^[14] Nathaniel Brassey Halhed, a British grammarian, wrote a modern Bengali grammar (A Grammar of the Bengal Language (1778)) that used Bengali types in print for the first time.^[2] Ram Mohan Roy, the great Bengali reformer,^[15] also wrote a "Grammar of the Bengali Language" (1832).

During this period, the Choltibhasha form, using simplified inflections and other changes, was emerging from Shadhubhasha (older form) as the form of choice for written Bengali.^[16]

Bengali was the focus, in 1951–52, of the Bengali Language Movement (Bhasha Andolon) in what was then East Bengal (today Bangladesh).^[17] Although the Bengali language was spoken by the majority of East Bengal's population, Urdu was legislated as the sole national language of the Dominion of Pakistan.^[18] On February 21, 1952, protesting students and activists were fired upon by military and police in the University of Dhaka and three young students and several other people were killed.^[19] Later in 1999, UNESCO declared 21 February as the International Mother Language Day in recognition of the deaths.^[20][21] In a separate event on May 19, 1961, police in Silchar, India, killed eleven people who were protesting legislation that mandated the use of the Assamese language.^[22]

Geographical distribution[link]

The extent of Bengali inside Bangladesh.

Bengali is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal and parts of Assam and Tripura. Besides this region it is also spoken by majority of the population in the union territory Andaman and Nicobar Islands. There are also significant Bengali-speaking communities in:

• the Middle East (namely, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait)
• Europe
• North America
• South-East Asia
• Pakistan (Karachi; see Bangladeshis in Pakistan)^[23]

Official status[link]

Bengali is the national and official language of Bangladesh, and one of the 23 official languages recognised by the Republic of India.^[24] It is the official language of the states of West Bengal and Tripura.^[25] It is also a major language in the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.^[26][27] It is also the co-official language of Assam, which has three predominantly Sylheti-speaking districts of southern Assam, Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi^[28] Bengali is a second official language of the Indian state of Jharkhand from September 2011. It is also a recognized secondary language in the City of Karachi in Pakistan. In December 2002, Sierra Leone’s President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah also named Bengali as an "official language" in recognition of the work of 5,300 troops from Bangladesh in the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone peacekeeping force.^[29][30] The national anthems of both India and Bangladesh were written in Bengali by the Bengali Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.^[31] In 2009, elected representatives in both Bangladesh and West Bengal called for Bengali to be made an official language of the United Nations.^[32]

Dialects[link]

Regional variation in spoken Bengali constitutes a dialect continuum. Linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterjee grouped these dialects into four large clusters—Rarh, Banga, Kamarupa and Varendra;^[2] but many alternative grouping schemes have also been proposed.^[33] The south-western dialects (Rarh) form the basis of standard colloquial Bengali, while Bangal is the dominant dialect group in Bangladesh. In the dialects prevalent in much of eastern and south-eastern Bangladesh (Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions of Bangladesh), many of the stops and affricates heard in West Bengal are pronounced as fricatives.^{[citation needed]} Western alveolo-palatal affricates চ [tɕ], ছ [tɕʰ], জ [dʑ] correspond to eastern চʻ [ts], ছ় [s], জʻ [dz]~[z]. The influence of Tibeto-Burman languages on the phonology of Eastern Bengali is seen through the lack of nasalized vowels.^{[citation needed]} Some variants of Bengali, particularly Chittagonian and Chakma Bangla, have contrastive tone; differences in the pitch of the speaker's voice can distinguish words. Rajbangsi, Kharia Thar and Mal Paharia are closely related to Western Bengali dialects, but are typically classified as separate languages. Similarly, Hajong is considered a separate language, although it shares similarities to Northern Bengali dialects.^[34]

During the standardization of Bengali in the late 19th century and early 20th century, the cultural center of Bengal was in the city of Calcutta (now Kolkata), founded by the British. What is accepted as the standard form today in both West Bengal and Bangladesh is based on the West-Central dialect of Nadia, an Indian district located on the border of Bangladesh.^[35] There are cases where speakers of Standard Bengali in West Bengal will use a different word than a speaker of Standard Bengali in Bangladesh, even though both words are of native Bengali descent. For example, nun (salt) in the west corresponds to lôbon in the east.^[36]

Spoken and literary varieties[link]

Bengali exhibits diglossia between the written and spoken forms of the language.^[37] Two styles of writing, involving somewhat different vocabularies and syntax, have emerged:^[35][38]

1. Sadhu bhasa (সাধু shadhu = 'chaste' or 'sage'; ভাষা bhasha = 'language') was the written language with longer verb inflections and more of a Pali/Sanskrit-derived (তৎসম tôtshômo) vocabulary. Songs such as India's national anthem Jana Gana Mana (by Rabindranath Tagore) and national song Vande Mātaram (by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) were composed in Shadhubhasha. However, use of Shadhubhasha in modern writing is uncommon, restricted to some official signs and documents in Bangladesh as well as for achieving particular literary effects.
2. Cholito bhasha (Bengali: চলিত ভাষা) (চলিত cholito = 'current' or 'running'), known by linguists as Manno Cholit Bangla (Standard Colloquial Bengali), is a written Bengali style exhibiting a preponderance of colloquial idiom and shortened verb forms, and is the standard for written Bengali now. This form came into vogue towards the turn of the 19th century, promoted by the writings of Peary Chand Mitra (Alaler Gharer Dulal, 1857),^[39] Pramatha Chowdhury (Sabujpatra, 1914) and in the later writings of Rabindranath Tagore. It is modeled on the dialect spoken in the Shantipur region in Nadia district, West Bengal. This form of Bengali is often referred to as the "Nadia standard" or "Shantipuri bangla".^[33]

While most writing is in Standard Colloquial Bengali, spoken dialects exhibit a greater variety. South-eastern West Bengal, including Kolkata, speak in Standard Colloquial Bengali. Other parts of West Bengal and western Bangladesh speak in dialects that are minor variations, such as the Medinipur dialect characterised by some unique words and constructions. However, a majority in Bangladesh speak in dialects notably different from Standard Colloquial Bengali. Some dialects, particularly those of the Chittagong region, bear only a superficial resemblance to Standard Colloquial Bengali.^[40] The dialect in the Chattagram region is least widely understood by the general body of Bengalis.^[40] The majority of Bengalis are able to communicate in more than one variety—often, speakers are fluent in colitobhasha (Standard Colloquial Bengali) and one or more regional dialects.^[16]

Even in Standard Colloquial Bengali, Muslims and Hindu use different words. Due to cultural and religious traditions, Hindus and Muslims might use, respectively, Pali/Sanskrit-derived and Perso-Arabic words.^[41] Some examples of lexical alternation between these two forms are:^[36]

• hello: nômoshkar (S) corresponds to assalamualaikum/slamalikum (A)
• invitation: nimontron/nimontonno (S) corresponds to daoat (A)
• water : jol (S) corresponds to paani (S)
• father : baba (P) corresponds to abbu/abba (A)

(here S = derived from Sanskrit and/or Pali, P = derived from Persian, A = derived from Arabic)

Phonology[link]

The phonemic inventory of standard Bengali consists of 28 consonants and 13 vowels, including 6 nasalized vowels. The inventory is set out below in International Phonetic Alphabet (upper grapheme in each box) and romanization (lower grapheme).

Bengali is known for its wide variety of diphthongs, combinations of vowels occurring within the same syllable.^[42]

Stress[link]

In standard Bengali, stress is predominantly initial. Bengali words are virtually all trochaic; the primary stress falls on the initial syllable of the word, while secondary stress often falls on all odd-numbered syllables thereafter, giving strings such as shô-ho-jo-gi-ta "cooperation", where the boldface represents primary and secondary stress.

Consonant clusters[link]

Native Bengali (tôdbhôbo) words do not allow initial consonant clusters;^[43] the maximum syllabic structure is CVC (i.e. one vowel flanked by a consonant on each side). Many speakers of Bengali restrict their phonology to this pattern, even when using Sanskrit or English borrowings, such as গেরাম geram (CV.CVC) for গ্রাম gram (CCVC) "village" or ইস্কুল iskul (VC.CVC) for স্কুল skul (CCVC) "school".

Writing system[link]

The Bengali script is an abugida, a script with letters for consonants, diacritics for vowels, and in which an "inherent" vowel is assumed if none is written.^[44] The script is a variant of the Assamese/Bengali Script used throughout Bangladesh and eastern India (Assam, West Bengal and the Mithila region of Bihar). The Assamese/Bengali Script is believed to have evolved from a modified Brahmic script around 1000 CE^[45] and is similar to the Devanagari abugida used for Sanskrit and many modern Indic languages (e.g. Hindi, Marathi and Nepali). The Bengali script has particularly close historical relationships with the Assamese script, and Mithilakshar (the native script for Maithili language) and some resemblance with the Oriya script (although this relationship is not strongly evident in appearance).^[46]

The Bengali script is a cursive script with eleven graphemes or signs denoting nine vowels and two diphthongs, and thirty-nine graphemes representing consonants and other modifiers.^[45] There are no distinct upper and lower case letter forms. The letters run from left to right and spaces are used to separate orthographic words. Like Devanagari, Bengali script has a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the graphemes that links them together.

Since the Bengali script is an abugida, its consonant graphemes usually do not represent phonetic segments, but carry an "inherent" vowel and thus are syllabic in nature. The inherent vowel is usually a back vowel, either [ɔ] as in মত [mɔt̪] "opinion" or [o], as in মন [mon] "mind", with variants like the more open [ɒ]. To emphatically represent a consonant sound without any inherent vowel attached to it, a special diacritic, called the hôshonto (্) (cf. Arabic sukūn), may be added below the basic consonant grapheme (as in ম্ [m]). This diacritic, however, is not common, and is chiefly employed as a guide to pronunciation. The abugida nature of Bengali consonant graphemes is not consistent, however. Often, syllable-final consonant graphemes, though not marked by a hôshonto, may carry no inherent vowel sound (as in the final ন in মন [mon] or the medial ম in গামলা [ɡamla]).

A consonant sound followed by some vowel sound other than the inherent [ɔ] is orthographically realized by using a variety of vowel allographs above, below, before, after, or around the consonant sign, thus forming the ubiquitous consonant-vowel ligature. These allographs, called kars (cf. Hindi matras) are dependent, diacritical vowel forms and cannot stand on their own. For example, the graph মি [mi] represents the consonant [m] followed by the vowel [i], where [i] is represented as the diacritical allograph ি (called i-kar) and is placed before the default consonant sign. Similarly, the graphs মা [ma], মী [mi], মু [mu], মূ [mu], মৃ [mri], মে [me]~[mæ], মৈ [moj], মো [mo] and মৌ [mow] represent the same consonant ম combined with seven other vowels and two diphthongs. It should be noted that in these consonant-vowel ligatures, the so-called "inherent" vowel [ɔ] is first expunged from the consonant before adding the vowel, but this intermediate expulsion of the inherent vowel is not indicated in any visual manner on the basic consonant sign ম.

The vowel graphemes in Bengali can take two forms: the independent form found in the basic inventory of the script and the dependent, abridged, allograph form (as discussed above). To represent a vowel in isolation from any preceding or following consonant, the independent form of the vowel is used. For example, in মই [moj] "ladder" and in ইলিশ [iliɕ] "Hilsa fish", the independent form of the vowel ই is used (cf. the dependent form ি). A vowel at the beginning of a word is always realized using its independent form.

In addition to the inherent-vowel-suppressing hôshonto, three more diacritics are commonly used in Bengali. These are the superposed côndrobindu (ঁ), denoting a suprasegmental for nasalization of vowels (as in চাঁদ [tɕãd] "moon"), the postposed onushshôr (ং) indicating the velar nasal [ŋ] (as in বাংলা [baŋla] "Bengali") and the postposed bishôrgo (ঃ) indicating the voiceless glottal fricative [h] (as in উঃ! [uh] "ouch!") or the gemination of the following consonant (as in দুঃখ [dukʰːo] "sorrow").

The Bengali consonant clusters (যুক্তব্যঞ্জন juktobênjon in Bengali) are usually realized as ligatures (যুক্তাক্ষর juktakkhor), where the consonant which comes first is put on top of or to the left of the one that immediately follows. In these ligatures, the shapes of the constituent consonant signs are often contracted and sometimes even distorted beyond recognition. In Bengali writing system, there are nearly 285 such ligatures denoting consonant clusters. Although there exist a few visual formulas to construct some of these ligatures, many of them have to be learned by rote. Recently, in a bid to lessen this burden on young learners, efforts have been made by educational institutions in the two main Bengali-speaking regions (West Bengal and Bangladesh) to address the opaque nature of many consonant clusters, and as a result, modern Bengali textbooks are beginning to contain more and more "transparent" graphical forms of consonant clusters, in which the constituent consonants of a cluster are readily apparent from the graphical form. However, since this change is not as widespread and is not being followed as uniformly in the rest of the Bengali printed literature, today's Bengali-learning children will possibly have to learn to recognize both the new "transparent" and the old "opaque" forms, which ultimately amounts to an increase in learning burden.

Bengali punctuation marks, apart from the downstroke daŗi (|), the Bengali equivalent of a full stop, have been adopted from western scripts and their usage is similar.^[2]

Whereas in western scripts (Latin, Cyrillic, etc.) the letter-forms stand on an invisible baseline, the Bengali letter-forms hang from a visible horizontal headstroke called the matra (not to be confused with its Hindi cognate matra, which denotes the dependent forms of Hindi vowels). The presence and absence of this matra can be important. For example, the letter ত [tɔ] and the numeral ৩ "3" are distinguishable only by the presence or absence of the matra, as is the case between the consonant cluster ত্র [trɔ] and the independent vowel এ [e]. The letter-forms also employ the concepts of letter-width and letter-height (the vertical space between the visible matra and an invisible baseline).

There is yet to be a uniform standard collating sequence (sorting order) of Bengali graphemes. Experts in both India and Bangladesh are currently working towards a common solution for this problem.

Signature of Rabindranath Tagore—an example of penmanship in Bengali.

Orthographic depth[link]

The Bengali script in general has a comparatively shallow orthography, i.e., in most cases there is a one-to-one correspondence between the sounds (phonemes) and the letters (graphemes) of Bengali. But grapheme-phoneme inconsistencies do occur in certain cases.

One kind of inconsistency is due to the presence of several letters in the script for the same sound. In spite of some modifications in the 19th century, the Bengali spelling system continues to be based on the one used for Sanskrit,^[2] and thus does not take into account some sound mergers that have occurred in the spoken language. For example, there are three letters (শ, ষ, and স) for the voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative [ɕ], although the letter স does retain the voiceless alveolar fricative [s] sound when used in certain consonant conjuncts as in স্খলন [kɔlon] "fall", স্পন্দন [spɔndon] "beat", etc. The letter ষ also does retain the voiceless retroflex fricative [ʂ] sound when used in certain consonant conjuncts as in কষ্ট [kɔʂʈo] "suffering", গোষ্ঠী [ɡoʂʈʰi] "clan", etc. Similarly, there are two letters (জ and য) for the Voiced alveolo-palatal affricate [dʑ]. Moreover, what was once pronounced and written as a retroflex nasal ণ [ɳ] is now pronounced as an alveolar [n] when in conversation (the difference is seen heard when reading) (unless conjoined with another retroflex consonant such as ট, ঠ, ড and ঢ), although the spelling does not reflect this change. The near-open front unrounded vowel [æ] is orthographically realized by multiple means, as seen in the following examples: এত [æt̪o] "so much", এ্যাকাডেমী [ækademi] "academy", অ্যামিবা [æmiba] "amoeba", দেখা [d̪ækʰa] "to see", ব্যস্ত [bæst̪o] "busy", ব্যাকরণ [bækɔron] "grammar".

Another kind of inconsistency is concerned with the incomplete coverage of phonological information in the script. The inherent vowel attached to every consonant can be either [ɔ] or [o] depending on the context, but this phonological information is not captured by the script, creating ambiguity for the reader. Furthermore, the inherent vowel is often not pronounced at the end of a syllable, as in কম [kɔm] "less", but this omission is not generally reflected in the script, making it difficult for the new reader.

Many consonant clusters have different sounds than their constituent consonants. For example, the combination of the consonants ক্ [k] and ষ [ʂɔ] is graphically realized as ক্ষ and is pronounced [kʰːo] (as in রুক্ষ [rukʰːo] "rugged") or [kʰo] (as in ক্ষতি [kʰot̪i] "loss") or even [kʰɔ] (as in ক্ষমতা [kʰɔmot̪a] "power"), depending on the position of the cluster in a word. The Bengali writing system is, therefore, not always a true guide to pronunciation.

For a detailed list of these inconsistencies, consult Bengali script.

Uses[link]

The Bengali script, with a few small modifications, is also used for writing Assamese. Other related languages in the region also make use of the Bengali alphabet. Meitei, a Sino-Tibetan language used in the Indian state of Manipur, has been written in the Bengali abugida for centuries, though Meitei Mayek (the Meitei abugida) has been promoted in recent times. The Bengali script has been adopted for writing the Sylheti language as well, replacing the use of the old Sylheti Nagori script.^[47]

Romanization[link]

Several conventions exist for writing Indic languages including Bengali in the Latin script, including "International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration" or IAST (based on diacritics),^[48] "Indian languages Transliteration" or ITRANS (uses upper case alphabets suited for ASCII keyboards),^[49] and the National Library at Calcutta romanization.^[50]

In the context of Bengali Romanization, it is important to distinguish transliteration from transcription. Transliteration is orthographically accurate (i.e. the original spelling can be recovered), whereas transcription is phonetically accurate (the pronunciation can be reproduced). Since English does not have the sounds of Bengali, and since pronunciation does not completely reflect the spellings, being faithful to both is not possible.

Although it might be desirable to use a transliteration scheme where the original Bengali orthography is recoverable from the Latin text, Bengali words are currently Romanized on Wikipedia using a phonemic transcription, where the pronunciation is represented with no reference to how it is written. The Wikipedia Romanization scheme is given in the table below, with the IPA transcriptions as used above.

Grammar[link]

Bengali nouns are not assigned gender, which leads to minimal changing of adjectives (inflection). However, nouns and pronouns are highly declined (altered depending on their function in a sentence) into four cases while verbs are heavily conjugated.

As a consequence, unlike Hindi, Bengali verbs do not change form depending on the gender of the nouns.

Word order[link]

As a Head-Final language, Bengali follows subject–object–verb word order, although variations to this theme are common.^[51] Bengali makes use of postpositions, as opposed to the prepositions used in English and other European languages. Determiners follow the noun, while numerals, adjectives, and possessors precede the noun.^[52]

Yes-no questions do not require any change to the basic word order; instead, the low (L) tone of the final syllable in the utterance is replaced with a falling (HL) tone. Additionally optional particles (e.g. কি -ki, না -na, etc.) are often encliticized onto the first or last word of a yes-no question.

Wh-questions are formed by fronting the wh-word to focus position, which is typically the first or second word in the utterance.

Nouns[link]

Nouns and pronouns are inflected for case, including nominative, objective, genitive (possessive), and locative.^[9] The case marking pattern for each noun being inflected depends on the noun's degree of animacy. When a definite article such as -টা -ţa (singular) or -গুলা -gula (plural) is added, as in the tables below, nouns are also inflected for number.

When counted, nouns take one of a small set of measure words. As in many East Asian languages (e.g. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc.), nouns in Bengali cannot be counted by adding the numeral directly adjacent to the noun. The noun's measure word (MW) must be used between the numeral and the noun. Most nouns take the generic measure word -টা -ţa, though other measure words indicate semantic classes (e.g. -জন -jon for humans).

Measuring nouns in Bengali without their corresponding measure words (e.g. আট বিড়াল aţ biŗal instead of আটটা বিড়াল aţ-ţa biŗal "eight cats") would typically be considered ungrammatical. However, when the semantic class of the noun is understood from the measure word, the noun is often omitted and only the measure word is used, e.g. শুধু একজন থাকবে। Shudhu êk-jon thakbe. (lit. "Only one-MW will remain.") would be understood to mean "Only one person will remain.", given the semantic class implicit in -জন -jon.

In this sense, all nouns in Bengali, unlike most other Indo-European languages, are similar to mass nouns.

Verbs[link]

Verbs divide into two classes: finite and non-finite. Non-finite verbs have no inflection for tense or person, while finite verbs are fully inflected for person (first, second, third), tense (present, past, future), aspect (simple, perfect, progressive), and honor (intimate, familiar, and formal), but not for number. Conditional, imperative, and other special inflections for mood can replace the tense and aspect suffixes. The number of inflections on many verb roots can total more than 200.

Inflectional suffixes in the morphology of Bengali vary from region to region, along with minor differences in syntax.

Bengali differs from most Indo-Aryan Languages in the zero copula, where the copula or connective be is often missing in the present tense.^[2] Thus "he is a teacher" is she shikkhôk, (literally "he teacher").^[53] In this respect, Bengali is similar to Russian and Hungarian.

Vocabulary[link]

Sources of modern Bengali words

  Tôdbhôbo (native)

  Tôtshômo (Sanskrit reborrowings)

  Deshi (indigenous loans) and Bideshi (foreign loans)

Bengali has as many as 100,000 separate words, of which 50,000 are considered tôtshômo (direct reborrowings from Sanskrit), 21,100 are tôdbhôbo (native words with Sanskrit cognates), and the rest being bideshi (foreign borrowings) and deshi (Austroasiatic borrowings) words.

However, these figures do not take into account the fact that a large proportion of these words are archaic or highly technical, minimizing their actual usage. The productive vocabulary used in modern literary works, in fact, is made up mostly (67%) of tôdbhôbo words, while tôtshômo only make up 25% of the total.^[54][55] Deshi and Bideshi words together make up the remaining 8% of the vocabulary used in modern Bengali literature.

Due to centuries of contact with Europeans, Mughals, Arabs, Turks, Persians, Afghans, and East Asians, Bengali has incorporated many words from foreign languages. The most common borrowings from foreign languages come from three different kinds of contact. Close contact with neighboring peoples facilitated the borrowing of words from Hindi, Assamese and several indigenous Austroasiatic languages (like Santali).^[56] of Bengal. After centuries of invasions from Persia and the Middle East, numerous Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and Pashtun words were absorbed into Bengali. Portuguese, French, Dutch and English words were later additions during the colonial period.

Sample text[link]

The following is a sample text in Bengali of the Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (by the United Nations):

ধারা ১: সমস্ত মানুষ স্বাধীনভাবে সমান মর্যাদা এবং অধিকার নিয়ে জন্মগ্রহণ করে। তাঁদের বিবেক এবং বুদ্ধি আছে; সুতরাং সকলেরই একে অপরের প্রতি ভ্রাতৃত্বসুলভ মনোভাব নিয়ে আচরণ করা উচিৎ।

—Bengali in Bengali script

dhārā ēka: samasta mānuṣa svādhīnabhābē samāna marẏādā ēbaṃ adhikāra niyē janmagrahaṇa karē. tṃādēra bibēka ēbaṃ buddhi ācē; sutarāṃ sakalēra-i ēkē aparēra prati bhrātṛtvasulabha manōbhāba niyē ācaraṇa karā ucit.

—Bengali in Roman Transliteration (NLK), faithful to script

Dhara êk: Shômosto manush shadhinbhabe shôman môrjada ebong odhikar nie jônmogrohon kôre. Tãder bibek ebong buddhi ache; shutorang shôkoleri êke ôporer proti bhrattrittoshulôbh mônobhab nie acorôn kôra ucit.

—Bengali in Transcription, faithful to pronunciation

d̪ʱara æk ɕɔmost̪o manuɕ ɕad̪ʱinbʱabe ɕɔman mɔrdʑad̪a eboŋ od̪ʱikar nie dʑɔnmoɡrohon kɔre. t̪ãd̪er bibek eboŋ bud̪ʱːi atɕʰe; ɕut̪oraŋ ɕɔkoleri æke ɔporer prot̪i bʱrat̪ːrit̪ːoɕulɔbʱ mɔnobʱab nie atɕorɔn kɔra utɕʰit̪.

—Bengali in IPA

Clause 1: All human free-manner-in equal dignity and right taken birth-take do. Their reason and intelligence is; therefore everyone-indeed one another's towards brotherhood-ly attitude taken conduct do should.

—Gloss

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience. Therefore, they should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

—Translation

See also[link]

Bengal portal

v t e Official languages of India Union-level Hindi English State-level Assamese Bengali Bodo Chhattisgarhi Dogri English Garo Gujarati Hindi Kannada Kashmiri Khasi Kokborok Konkani Maithili Malayalam Manipuri Marathi Mizo Nepali Oriya Punjabi Rajasthani Sanskrit Santali Sindhi Telugu Tamil Urdu

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Bengali language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Look up Bengali in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Bengali Phrasebook at Wikitravel
• Biswas, Sailendra. Samsada Bangala abhidhana. 7th ed. Calcutta, Sahitya Samsad, 2004. Requires unicode enabled browser.
• Biswas, Sailendra. Samsad Bengali-English dictionary. 3rd ed. Calcutta, Sahitya Samsad, 2000. Requires unicode enabled browser.
• Free Bengali Unicode Solutions.
• The South Asian Literary Recordings Project, The Library of Congress. Bengali Authors.
• Bengali computing resources at TDIL

lez:Бенгал чӀал

Mumzy Stranger
Background information
Native name	মামজি স্ট্রাঞ্জার
Birth name	Muhammad Mumith Ahmed
Born	(1984-01-18) 18 January 1984 (age 28) Plaistow, Newham, London, United Kingdom
Origin	Plaistow, Newham, London, United Kingdom
Genres	Hip-Hop, Grime, R&B, Bashment
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Rapper, Record producer, Dancer
Years active	2005 – present
Labels	Tiffin Beats Records (2008-present)
Associated acts	Rishi Rich, Preeya Kalidas, Abbas Hasan, Yasmin, Wiley, Karen David, Sonu Kakkar, Junior Giscombe
Website	www.mumzystranger.com

Muhammad Mumith Ahmed (born 18 January 1984), better known by his stage name Mumzy Stranger, is a British MC, singer-songwriter and record producer. He made his mainstream recording debut in the summer of 2009 with his debut single "“One More Dance,”" which topped the UK Asian Charts, as did the follow-up singles, "“Showgirl”" and "“Fly With Me.”" He is the first artist of Bangladeshi descent to have entered the mainstream music industry and is one of the latest prospect of British-Asian R&B artist in Britain.^[1]

Early life[link]

Mumith Ahmed was born and raised in Plaistow, Newham in East London to Bengali Muslim parents. He is of Bangladeshi origin and was raised in a traditional Islamic home.^[2]

In 2000, Ahmed started out in the UK Garage scene at the age of 16, and was involved in pirate radio until 2003 when he left as he felt like a stranger (from which he derived his stage name).^[3]

Career[link]

2005-08: Career beginning[link]

Ahmed was one of three finalists in BBC Asian Network’s Unsung competition in 2005 with his song “Jump Up,”^[4][5] after a friend of his sent in Stranger’s demo tape,^[6] which caught the attention of Rishi Rich, a Bhangra-fusion producer that was one of the judges for the competition.^[7]

Two years later, as a graduate from the University of Westminster, achieving a BA (Hons) in Business Information Technology,^[1] Ahmed finally went into the studio with Rishi Rich. With the help of Rishi Rich, he released his promo single, “Let's Party” in 2007, which Rich produced along with a next single, “Stranger.”^{[citation needed]} He performed in the UK at the Royal Festival Hall in South Bank, London^{[citation needed]} and at the 2008 Baishakhi Mela, a concert of Bangladeshi musicians.^{[citation needed]} He also performed at the award show for the UK Asian Music Awards in 2008.^{[citation needed]}

2009: Debut single and collaborations[link]

Ahmed’s debut single “One More Dance” was produced by Rishi Rich and was released in July 2009.^[8] The single was set to be titled "One More Chance" but was later changed to “One More Dance,” according to Rishi Rich.^[9] It fail to reach the mainstream charts but topped the UK Asian Charts on its debut.^[10][11] His second single, "Showgirl," was released in August 2009.^[6][12] Mumzy is heard on two tracks on The Streets of Bollywood 3, a remix album by Rishi Rich, Hunterz and Kami K, mainly focusing on bringing Indian and urban music together.

Ahmed collaborated with several UK and international desi artists, such as H-Dhami, Preeya Kalidas, Abbas Hasan and Malkit Singh.^[13]

On 18 November 2010, Ahmed supported Sean Kingston at the 02 Arena.^[14]

2010: Debut mixtape and album released[link]

Ahmed released his debut mixtape, “No Stranger To This”, which was put together in the course of seven days and officially released on December 11, a day before his debut album, “Journey Begins”. Stranger and Stereo Nation are heard on the soundtrack of It's a Wonderful Afterlife. The track is a remix of a hit song by Stereo Nation, “Larl Larl Buleeya (Remix).” The track is Stranger's debut on a British film soundtrack. He is also heard on the soundtrack of Toonpur Ka Super Hero, making his debut on a Bollywood film soundtrack.

2011-present: Award Nominations and singles[link]

At the UK Asian Music Awards’s Nominations Party held at the West Midlands’ super-club Gatecrasher, in Birmingham on the 1st February, Ahmed was nominated for 4 awards, Best Album (for “Journey Begins”), Best Male Act, Best Urban Act and Best Video (for “Fly With Me”), the most for any solo act at the UK Asian Music Awards 2011.^[15] He ended up winning Best Urban Act.^[16]

After the release of his debut album, he released his new promotional single, tilted, “Mama Used To Say,” a collaboration with Grammy-Award winning British R&B singer, Junior, which was released on March 10.^[17] Stranger performed the single at the UK AMA with Junior.^[18]

On 8 April 2011, Ahmed’s single“Heartbreaker” was released as a free download.^[19][20]

Ahmed’s latest collaboration is with Junai Kaden^[21] on the track, “Aaja Mere Naal.” The track is Junai Kaden’s debut single and produced by Mumzy himself. The singles official release date is April 14.^[22] The track entered the UK Asian Download Chart at No. 7, making his very first top 10 single.^{[citation needed]}

Community Work[link]

Ahmed is an ambassador for Newham Council’s anti-violence campaign to prevent gun and knife crime.^[23] On 29 August 2010, Stranger took part in the Sky Ride Leicester, a free, family-orientated and fun traffic-free mass participationcycling event in Leicester, England.^[24]

Awards and nominations[link]

Discography[link]

[edit] Journey Begins (2010)

Journey Begins is Stranger's debut album, released on December 12, 2010 in the UK on Tiffin Beats Records.^[25]

Singles[link]

The albums lead single is "Fly With Me", produced by himself at his home studio. The single debuted at number 15 on the UK Asian Download Chart and stayed in the top 40 for more than 17 weeks but dropped off the chart at week 18.^{[citation needed]} There are several remixes of "Fly With Me", a Grime Mix featuring Flo Dan, Gods Gift, KID & Roly, a Rishi Rich Kulcha Mix and a Bangla Mix featuring SH8S. Stranger's fourth and final single from the album is "Spaceman" featuring Wiley.

Promotion[link]

Stranger performed songs from his new album with a live orchestra to a close 600 fans and media at a one-off concert on December 18 at Stratford Circus.^[26]

Critical reception[link]

DesiHits rated the album 3/5, stating their description of the album as simply average. They stated: "Despite high expectations and many memorable collaborations and features, "Journey Begins" doesn't impress us."^[27]

Commercial reception[link]

The album achieved moderate success, reaching number 4 on the iTunes Hip-Hop Album Chart on its debut, making the album the biggest success for Stranger to date.^[28] The album was nominated for “Best Album” award at the UK Asian Music Awards 2011.^[29]

Track list[link]

Mixtapes[link]

• MixTape (DesiDrop.Com Exclusive: Collection of Mumzy's Promo Songs) (2008)^[30]
• No Stranger To This (Hosted by DJ Limelight) (2010)

Guest Appearances[link]

• Sham D - “I Know” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Malkit Singh - “Nach Billo” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Malkit Singh - “Saari Raat Nachava” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Sophie - “Manjawe” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• H-Dhami - “Tere Naal” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Jerusha - “Girls Girls Boys Boys” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Preeya Kalidas - “Shimmy” (featuring Mumzy Stranger
• Preeya Kalidas - “Dance Dance” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Karen David - “Hypnotize” (featuring Mumzy Stranger & Sonu Kakker)
• Abbas Hasan - “Sona” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Veronica - “Turn” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Veronica - “Permission” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Tasha Tah - “Rewind” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Goldkartz - “Ha Karde” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Stereo Nation - “Lal Lal Buleeya (Remix)” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Ramzi - “Fall In Love (Rishi Rich Remix)” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Da Poe - “Luvin' A Thug” (produced by Mumzy Stranger, featuring Mumzy Stranger & Tahseen Haye)
• Junal Kaden - “Aaja Mere Naal” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)
• Junai Kaden - “Ghetto” (featuring Mumzy Stranger)

Videography[link]

Music Videos[link]

• One More Dance (Directed by Phil Hawkins/Box Bot)
• Showgirl
• City Boy/It Can Only Be Love
• Fly With Me (Directed by Orson Nava)
• Nach Billo (with Malkit Singh)
• Manjawe (with Sophie)
• Shimmy (with Preeya Kalidas)
• Sona (with Abbas Hasan)
• Ha Karde (with Goldkartz) (Distributed by X1Film)
• Heartbreaker (Distributed by Desi-Box.com)
• Aaja Mere Naal (with Junai Kaden)

See also[link]

• British Bangladeshi
• List of British Bangladeshis

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• MySpace
• Mumzy Stranger on Twitter

Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan in 2009
Born	Amitabh Harivansh Bachchan (1942-10-11) 11 October 1942 (age 69) Allahabad, United Provinces, British India
Residence	Prateeksha, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Actor, producer, singer, television presenter
Years active	1969–present
Spouse	Jaya Bhaduri (1973–present)
Children	Abhishek Bachchan Shweta Nanda
Website
bigb.bigadda.com

Amitabh Bachchan ([əmɪtaːbʱ bəttʃən] ( listen), born Amitabh Harivansh Bachchan on 11 October 1942) is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades.^[1][2] Bachchan is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema.^[3][4][5]

Bachchan has won numerous major awards in his career, including three National Film Awards as Best Actor, and fourteen Filmfare Awards. He is the most-nominated performer in any major acting category at Filmfare, with 37 nominations overall. In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a playback singer, film producer and television presenter. He also had a stint in politics in the 1980s. He has received both the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan civilian awards from the Indian government.

Early life[link]

Bachban was born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. His father, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, was a Hindi poet, and his mother, Teji Bachchan, was a Sikh from Faisalabad (now in Pakistan).^[6] Bachchan was initially named Inquilaab, inspired from the famous phrase Inquilab Zindabad, during the Indian independence struggle. However, at the suggestion of fellow poet Sumitranandan Pant, Harivansh Rai changed the name to Amitabh which means, "the light that would never go off." Though his surname was Shrivastava, his father had adopted the pen-name Bachchan (meaning child-like in colloquial Hindi), under which he published all his works. It is with this last name that Amitabh debuted in films, and, for all public purposes, it has become the surname of all members of his family. Bachchan's father died in 2003, and his mother in 2007.^[7]

Amitabh is the eldest of Harivansh Rai Bachchan's two sons, the second being Ajitabh. His mother had a keen interest in theatre and had been offered a role in a film, but preferred her domestic duties. She had some degree of influence in Bachchan's choice of career because she always insisted that he should take the centre stage.^[8] He attended Allahabad's Jnana Prabodhini and Boys' High School (BHS), followed by Nainital's Sherwood College, where he majored in the art stream.^{[citation needed]} He later went on to study at Kirori Mal College of the University of Delhi and completed a Bachelor of Science degree.^{[citation needed]} In his twenties, Bachchan gave up a job as freight broker for the shipping firm, Bird and Co., based in Calcutta now known as Kolkata, to pursue a career in acting.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Early work: 1969–1972[link]

Bachchan made his film debut in 1969 as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen's National Award winning film Bhuvan Shome. Thereafter he got his first acting role as one of the seven protagonists in Saat Hindustani, a film directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and featuring Utpal Dutt, Madhu and Jalal Agha. Though the film was not a financial success, Bachchan won his first National Film Award for Best Newcomer.^[9]

Anand (1971) followed, where he starred alongside Rajesh Khanna. Bachchan's role as a doctor with a cynical view of life garned him his first Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. He then played his first negative role as an infatuated lover-turned-murderer in Parwaana (1971). This was followed by several films including Reshma Aur Shera (1971). During this time, he made a guest appearance in the film Guddi which starred his future wife Jaya Bhaduri. He narrated part of the film Bawarchi. In 1972, he made an appearance in the road action comedy Bombay to Goa, directed by S. Ramanathan. Many of his films during this early period did not do well, but that was about to change.^[10]

Rise to stardom: 1973–1983[link]

Director Prakash Mehra cast him in the leading role for the film Zanjeer (1973) as Inspector Vijay Khanna. The film was a sharp contrast to the romantically themed films that had generally preceded it and established Amitabh in a new persona—the "angry young man" of Bollywood cinema.^[2] He earned a Filmfare nomination for Best Actor. Filmfare considers this one of the iconic performances of Bollywood history.^[10] The year 1973 was also when he married Jaya, and around this time they appeared in several films together; not only in Zanjeer but in films such as Abhimaan which followed and was released only a month after their marriage. Later, Bachchan played the role of Vikram in the film Namak Haraam, a social drama directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and scripted by Biresh Chatterjee addressing themes of friendship. His supporting role won him his second Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award.^{[citation needed]}

In 1974, Bachchan made several guest appearances in films such as Kunwara Baap and Dost, before playing a supporting role in Roti Kapda Aur Makaan. The film, directed and written by Manoj Kumar, addressed themes of honesty in the face of oppression and financial and emotional hardship. Bachchan then played the leading role in film Majboor, released on 6 December 1974, which was a remake of the Hollywood film Zigzag. The film was only a moderate success at the box office.^[11] In 1975, he starred in a variety of film genres from the comedy Chupke Chupke, the crime drama Faraar to the romantic drama Mili. 1975 was the year when he appeared in two films which are regarded as important in Hindi cinematic history. He starred in the Yash Chopra directed film Deewaar, opposite Shashi Kapoor, Nirupa Roy, and Neetu Singh, which earned him a Filmfare Nomination for Best Actor. The film became a major hit at the box office in 1975, ranking in at number 4.^[12] Indiatimes Movies ranks Deewaar amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.^[13] Released on 15 August 1975 was Sholay (meaning flames), which became the highest grossing film of all time in India, earning INR 2,36,45,00,000 equivalent to US$ 60 million, after adjusting for inflation.^[14] Bachchan played the role of Jaidev. In 1999, BBC India declared it the "Film of the Millennium" and like Deewar, has been cited by Indiatimes movies as amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.^[13] In that same year, the judges of the 50th annual Filmfare Awards awarded it with the special distinction award called Filmfare Best Film of 50 Years.

Bachchan starred in comedies such as Chupke Chupke (1975) and Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) and in films such as Kabhie Kabhie (1976). In 1976, he was once again cast by director Yash Chopra in his second film, Kabhi Kabhie, a romantic tale in which Bachchan starred as a young poet named Amit Malhotra who falls deeply in love with a beautiful young girl named Pooja played by actress Rakhee Gulzar. The film saw him again nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award. In 1977, he won his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Amar Akbar Anthony where he played the third lead opposite Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor as Anthony Gonsalves. In 1978 he starred in all four of the highest grossing films of India in that year.^[15] He once again resumed double roles in films such as Kasme Vaade as Amit and Shankar and Don playing the characters of Don, a leader of an underworld gang and his look alike Vijay. His performance won him his second Filmfare Best Actor Award. He also performed in Trishul and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar which both earned him further Filmfare Best Actor nominations. He was billed a "one-man industry" by the French director François Truffaut.^[16]

In 1979, for the first time, Amitabh was required to use his singing voice for the film Mr. Natwarlal in which he starred alongside Rekha. His performance in the film saw him nominated for both the Filmfare Best Actor Award and the Filmfare Best Male Playback Awards. In 1979, he also received Best Actor nomination for Kaala Patthar (1979) and then went on to be nominated again in 1980 for the Raj Khosla directed film Dostana, in which he starred opposite Shatrughan Sinha and Zeenat Aman. Dostana proved to be the top grossing film of 1980.^[17] In 1981, he starred in Yash Chopra's melodrama film Silsila, where he starred alongside his wife Jaya and rumoured lover Rekha. Other films of this period include Ram Balram (1980), Shaan (1980), Lawaaris (1981), and Shakti (1982) which pitted him against legendary actor Dilip Kumar.^[18]

[edit] 1982 injury while filming Coolie

On 26 July 1982, while filming Coolie in the University Campus in Bangalore, Bachchan suffered a near fatal intestinal injury during the filming of a fight scene with co-actor Puneet Issar.^[19] Bachchan was performing his own stunts in the film and one scene required him to fall onto a table and then on the ground. However as he jumped towards the table, the corner of the table struck his abdomen, resulting in a splenic rupture from which he lost a significant amount of blood. He required an emergency splenectomy and remained critically ill in hospital for many months, at times close to death. The public response included prayers in temples and offers to sacrifice limbs to save him, while later, there were long queues of well-wishing fans outside the hospital where he was recuperating.^[20] Nevertheless, he spent many months recovering and resumed filming later that year after a long period of recuperation. The film was released in 1983, and partly due to the huge publicity of Bachchan's accident, the film was a box office success.^[21]

The director, Manmohan Desai, altered the ending of Coolie after Bachchan's accident. Bachchan's character was originally intended to have been killed off but after the change of script, the character lived in the end. It would have been inappropriate, said Desai, for the man who had just fended off death in real life to be killed on screen. Also, in the released film the footage of the fight scene is frozen at the critical moment, and a caption appears onscreen marking this as the instant of the actor's injury and the ensuing publicity of the accident.^[20]

Later, he was diagnosed with Myasthenia gravis. His illness made him feel weak both mentally and physically and he decided to quit films and venture into politics. At this time he became pessimistic, expressing concern with how a new film would be received and stated before every release, "Yeh film to flop hogi!" ("This film will flop").^[22]

Politics: 1984–87[link]

In 1984, Bachchan took a break from acting and briefly entered politics in support of long-time family friend, Rajiv Gandhi. He contested Allahabad's seat of 8th Lok Sabha against H. N. Bahuguna, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and won by one of the highest victory margins in general election history (68.2% of the vote).^[23] His political career, however, was short-lived: he resigned after three years, calling politics a cesspool. The resignation followed the implication of Bachchan and his brother in the "Bofors scandal" by a newspaper, which he vowed to take to court. Bachchan was eventually found not guilty of involvement in the ordeal.^[24]

His old friend, Amar Singh, helped him during a financial crisis due to the failure of his company ABCL. Therefore Bachchan started to support Amar Singh's political party, the Samajwadi party. Jaya Bachchan joined the Samajwadi Party and became a Rajya Sabha member.^[25] Bachchan has continued to do favors for the Samajwadi party, including advertisements and political campaigns. These activities have recently gotten him into trouble again in the Indian courts for false claims after a previous incident of submission of legal papers by him, stating that he is a farmer.^[26]

A 15 year press ban against Bachchan was imposed during his peak acting years by Stardust and some of the other film magazines. In his own defense, Bachchan claimed to have banned the press from entering his sets until late 1989.^[27]

Slump and retirement: 1988–1992[link]

In 1988, Bachchan returned to films, playing the title role in Shahenshah, which was a box office success due to the hype of Bachchan's comeback.^[28] After the success of his comeback film however, his star power began to wane as all of his subsequent films failed at the box office. The 1991 hit film, Hum, for which he won his third Filmfare Best Actor Award, looked like it might reverse this trend, but the momentum was short-lived as his string of box office failures continued. Notably, despite the lack of hits, it was during this period that Bachchan won his first National Film Award for Best Actor, for his performance as a Mafia don in the 1990 film Agneepath. These years would be the last he would be seen on screen for some time. After the release of Khuda Gawah in 1992, Bachchan went into semi-retirement for five years. In 1994, one of his delayed films Insaniyat was released but was also a box office failure.^[29]

Producer and acting comeback 1996–99[link]

Bachchan turned producer during his temporary retirement period, setting up Amitabh Bachchan Corporation, Ltd. (A.B.C.L.) in 1996, with the vision of becoming a 10 billion rupees (approx 250 million $US) premier entertainment company by the year 2000. ABCL's strategy was to introduce products and services covering the entire section of the India's entertainment industry. Its operations were mainstream commercial film production and distribution, audio cassettes and video discs, production and marketing of television software, celebrity and event management. Soon after the company was launched in 1996, the first film was produced by the company. Tere Mere Sapne failed to do well at the box office but launched the careers of actors such as Arshad Warsi and South films star Simran. ABCL produced a few other films, none of which did well.

In 1997, Bachchan attempted to make his acting comeback with the film Mrityudata, produced by ABCL. Though Mrityudaata attempted to reprise Bachchan's earlier success as an action hero, the film was a failure both financially and critically. ABCL was the main sponsor of the 1996 Miss World beauty pageant, Bangalore but lost millions. The fiasco and the consequent legal battles surrounding ABCL and various entities after the event, coupled with the fact that ABCL was reported to have overpaid most of its top level managers, eventually led to its financial and operational collapse in 1997. The company went into administration and was later declared a failed company by Indian Industries board. The Bombay high court, in April 1999, restrained Bachchan from selling off his Bombay bungalow 'Prateeksha' and two flats till the pending loan recovery cases of Canara Bank were disposed of. Bachchan had, however, pleaded that he had mortgaged his bungalow to Sahara India Finance for raising funds for his company.^[30]

Bachchan attempted to revive his acting career and had average success with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998),^[29] and received positive reviews for Sooryavansham (1999)^[31] but other films such as Lal Baadshah (1999) and Hindustan Ki Kasam (1999) were box office failures.

Return to prominence: 2000–present[link]

Bachchan at the IIFA Awards in 2006

In 2000, Amitabh Bachchan appeared in Yash Chopra's box-office hit, Mohabbatein, directed by Aditya Chopra. He played a stern, older figure that rivalled the character of Shahrukh Khan. His role won him his third Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. Other hits followed, with Bachchan appearing as an older family patriarch in Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love (2001), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) and Baghban (2003). As an actor, he continued to perform in a range of characters, receiving critical praise for his performances in Aks (2001), Aankhen (2002), Khakee (2004) and Dev (2004). One project that did particularly well for Bachchan was Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black (2005). The film starred Bachchan as an aging teacher of a deaf-blind girl and followed their relationship. His performance was unanimously praised by critics and audiences and won him his second National Film Award for Best Actor and fourth Filmfare Best Actor Award. Taking advantage of this resurgence, Amitabh began endorsing a variety of products and services, appearing in many television and billboard advertisements. In 2005 and 2006, he starred with his son Abhishek in the hit films Bunty Aur Babli (2005), the Godfather tribute Sarkar (2005), and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (2006). All of them were successful at the box office.^[32][33] His later releases in 2006 and early 2007 were Baabul (2006),^[34] Ekalavya and Nishabd (2007), which failed to do well at the box office but his performances in each of them were praised by critics.^[35]

In May 2007, two of his films Cheeni Kum and the multi-starrer Shootout at Lokhandwala were released. Shootout at Lokhandwala did very well at the box office and was declared a hit in India, while Cheeni Kum picked up after a slow start and only had average success.^[36] A remake of his biggest hit, Sholay (1975), entitled Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, released in August of that same year and proved to be a major commercial failure in addition to its poor critical reception.^[36] The year also marked Bachchan's first appearance in an English-language film, Rituparno Ghosh's The Last Lear. The film premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2007. He received positive reviews from critics who hailed his performance as his best ever since Black.^[37] Bachchan was slated to play a supporting role in his first international film, Shantaram, directed by Mira Nair and starring Hollywood actor Johnny Depp in the lead. The film was due to begin filming in February 2008 but due to the writer's strike, was pushed to September 2008.^[38] The film is currently "shelved" indefinitely.^[39] Vivek Sharma's Bhoothnath, in which he plays the title role as a ghost, was released on 9 May 2008. Sarkar Raj, the sequel of the 2005 film Sarkar, released in June 2008 and received a positive response at the box-office. Paa, which released at the end of 2009 was a highly anticipated project as it saw him playing his own son Abhishek's Progeria-affected 13-year-old son, and it opened to favourable reviews, particularly towards Bachchan's performance. It won him his third National Film Award for Best Actor and fifth Filmfare Best Actor Award. In 2010, he debuted in Malayalam film through Kandahar, directed by Major Ravi and co-starring Mohanlal.^[40] The film was based on the hijacking incident of the Indian Airlines Flight 814.^[41] Bachchan did not receive any remuneration for this film.^[42]

Television career[link]

In the year 2000, Bachchan stepped up to host India's adaptation of the British television game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? entitled, Kaun Banega Crorepati. As it did in most other countries where it was adopted, the program found immediate success. He has hosted all but one of the seasons of the show. Canara Bank withdrew its law suit against Bachchan in November 2000. Bachchan hosted KBC till November 2005, when he fell ill. At that time he was admitted to Lilavati Hospital's ICU once more, to undergo surgery for diverticulitis of the small intestine.^[43] During the period and that following his recovery, most of his projects were put on hold, including KBC.^[44] He has hosted all but one season of the show. Its success set the stage for his return to film popularity. In 2009 Oscar winning movie Slumdog Millionaire in the first question of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? contest "Amitabh Bachchan" was the correct answer to the question "Who was the star of Zanjeer? Feroz Abbas Khan performed as Amitabh Bachchan in a scene in the movie while Anil Kapoor performed as the host of the contest. Bachchan hosted the third season of the reality show Bigg Boss in 2009.^[45]

Voice[link]

Bachchan is known for his deep, baritone voice. He has been a narrator, a playback singer and presenter for numerous programmes.^{[citation needed]} Renowned film director Satyajit Ray was so impressed with Bachchan's voice, that he decided to use his voice as commentary in Shatranj Ke Khilari since he could not find a suitable role for him.^[46] In 2005, Bachchan has lent his voice to the Oscar-winning French documentary March of the Penguins, directed by Luc Jacquet.^[47]

Controversies and criticism[link]

Barabanki land case[link]

In the runup to the Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections, 2007, Bachchan made a film extolling the virtues of the Mulayam Singh government. His Samajwadi Party was routed, and Mayawati came to power.^{[citation needed]}

On 2 June 2007 a Faizabad court ruled that he had legally acquired agricultural land designated specifically for landless Dalit farmers.^[48] It was speculated that he might be investigated on related charges of forgery, as he has allegedly claimed he was a farmer.^[49] On 19 July 2007, after the scandal broke out, Bachchan surrendered the land acquired in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh and Pune. He wrote to the chief minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, to donate the lands that were allegedly acquired illegally in Pune.^[50] However, the Lucknow Court has put a stay on the land donation and said that the status quo on the land be maintained.

On 12 October 2007, Bachchan abandoned his claim in respect of the land at Daulatpur village in Barabanki district.^[51] On 11 December 2007, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court gave a clean chit to Bachchan in a case pertaining to alleged fraudulent allotment of government land to him in Barabanki district. A single Lucknow bench of Justice said there was no finding that the actor "himself committed any fraud or manipulated any surreptitious entry in the revenue records".^[52][53]

After receiving a positive verdict in Barabanki case, Amitabh Bachchan intimated to Maharashtra government that he did not wish to surrender his land in Maval tehsil of Pune district.^[54]

Raj Thackeray's criticism[link]

Bachchan featured on an advert in shopping mall in India

In January 2008 at political rallies, Raj Thackeray, the chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, targeted Amitabh Bachchan, asserting that the actor was "more inclined" towards his native state than Maharashtra. He expressed his disapproval of Amitabh's inaugurating a girls' school named after his daughter-in-law, actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, at Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, rather than in Maharashtra.^[55] According to media reports, Raj's censure of Amitabh, whom he admires, stemmed out of his disappointment of not being invited to Amitabh's son Abhishek's marriage to Aishwarya, despite invitations to his estranged uncle Bal and cousin Uddhav.^[56][57]

Responding to Raj's accusations, the actor's wife, SP MP Jaya Bachchan, said that the Bachchans were willing to start a school in Mumbai, provided the MNS leader donated the land to build it. She told the media, "I heard that Raj Thackeray owns huge properties in Maharashtra, in Mumbai—Kohinoor Mills. If he is willing to donate land, we can start a school in the name of Aishwarya here."^[58] Raj responded to it saying, "Jaya bachchan claims she does not know me then how come she knows how much property I own?". Amitabh abstained from commenting on the issue. However, he apologized to Raj for controversial remarks from Jaya in some other incidence. "^[59]

Bal Thackeray refuted the allegations, stating, "Amitabh Bachchan is an open-minded person, he has great love for Maharashtra, and this is evident on many occasions. The actor has often said that Maharashtra and specially Mumbai has given him great fame and affection. He has also said that what he is today is because of the love people have given him.^{[citation needed]} The people of Mumbai have always acknowledged him as an artiste.^{[citation needed]} It was utter foolishness to make these parochial allegations against him. Amitabh is a global superstar. People all over the world respect him. This cannot be forgotten by anyone. Amitabh should ignore these silly accusations and concentrate on his acting."^[60]

On 23 March 2008, more than a month and half after Raj's remarks, Amitabh finally spoke out in an interview to a local tabloid saying, "Random charges are random; they do not deserve the kind of attention you wish me to give."^[61] Later, on 28 March at a press conference for the International Indian Film Academy, when asked what his take was on the anti-migrant issue, Amitabh said that it is one's fundamental right to live anywhere in the country and the constitution entitles so.^[62] He also stated that he was not affected by Raj's comments.^[63]

Awards, honours and recognitions[link]

Apart from National Film Awards, Filmfare Awards and other competitive awards which Bachchan won for his performances throughout the years, he has been awarded several honours for his achievements in the Indian film industry.^{[citation needed]} In 1991, he became the first artist to receive the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, which was established in the name of Raj Kapoor. Bachchan was crowned as Superstar of the Millennium in 2000 at the Filmfare Awards. The Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri in 1984^[64] and the Padma Bhushan in 2001.^[65] France's highest civilian honour, the Knight of the Legion of Honour, was conferred upon him by the French Government in 2007 for his "exceptional career in the world of cinema and beyond".^[66] In 2011, actor Dilip Kumar blogged that Black should have been nominated for an Oscar. Kumar added: "If any Indian actor, in my personal opinion, deserves the world's most coveted award, it is you."^[67]

In 1999, Bachchan was voted the "greatest star of stage or screen" in a BBC Your Millenium online poll. The organisation noted that "Many people in the western world will not have heard of [him] ...[but it] is a reflection of the huge popularity of Indian films."^[68] In 2001, he was honoured with the Actor of the Century award at the Alexandria International Film Festival in Egypt in recognition of his contribution to the world of cinema.^[69] Many other honours for his achievements were conferred upon him at several International Film Festivals, including the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Asian Film Awards.^[70]

In June 2000, he became the first living Asian to have been immortalised in wax at London's Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.^[71] Another statue was installed in New York ^[72] and Hong Kong in 2009.^[73]

In 2003, he was conferred with the Honorary Citizenship of the French town of Deauville.^[74] He was honoured with an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Jhansi, India, in 2004,^[75] the University of Delhi in 2006,^[76] the De Montfort University in Leicester, UK, in 2006,^[77] the University Brandan Foster by the Leeds Metropolitan University in Yorkshire, UK, in 2007,^[78] and the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, in 2011.^[79]

Severals books have been written about Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan: the Legend was published in 1999,^[80] To be or not to be: Amitabh Bachchan in 2004,^[81] AB: The Legend: (A Photographer's Tribute) in 2006 ^[82]/, Amitabh Bachchan: Ek Jeevit Kimvadanti in 2006,^[83] Amitabh: The Making of a Superstar in 2006,^[84] Looking for the Big B: Bollywood, Bachchan and Me in 2007 ^[85] and Bachchanalia in 2009.^[86] Bachchan himself also wrote a book in 2002: Soul Curry for you and me – An Empowering Philosophy That Can Enrich Your Life.^[87] In the early 80s, Bachchan authorized the use of his likeness for the comic book character Supremo in a series titled The Adventures of Amitabh Bachchan.^[88]

Personal life[link]

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Bachchan is married to actress Jaya Bhaduri. They have two children, Shweta Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan. Abhishek is also an actor and is married to actress Aishwarya Rai.

Filmography[link]

Latest films[link]