What is so special about Amitabh Bachchan that he is still active in the show business whereas his peers like Jitendra, Dharmendra, and others do give rare public appearance?

Amitabh Bachhan is very adaptable to the new circumstances and intelligent enough to understand the situation and change himself accordingly.

It’s not that he has not done mistakes but he learns from them and moves ahead.

Let’s see chronologically :

1. Amitabh came in show business as an outsider but that was not a disadvantage then because many of his contemporaries ( Rajesh Khanna, Jeetendra, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna) were outsiders and were doing well in the film industry.
2. He picked up slowly – he had 13 flops before he delivered super hit Zanjeer. But, once he arrived, he sustained for a longer period.
3. His character of Angry young man “Vijay” captured the popular imagination as country was going through tough times. We had war with Pakistan in 1971 and there was inflation due to this. Unemployment was all time high. Educated middle class was struggling to get a job and make both ends meet. There was general dissatisfaction among the masses and subsequently Emergency was imposed. Voices of masses were further muzzled. And here comes Amitabh Bachchan with dialogues penned by Salim Javed. Dialogues were against the establishment, against the social norms at that time and also against God at times – remember ‘Aaj Khush to bahot hoge tum” in movie Deewar. These utterances in baritone voice of Amitabh clearly depicted the angst and frustration of youth and these movies ( Zanjeer, Sholay, Deewar, Trishul, Kaala Patthar) became super hits.
4. He became super star of 70′s taking the mantle from Rajesh Khanna.
5. Dharmendra and Jeetendra were considered evergreen heroes but not as box office no. 1 or Superstar.
6. There was one actor who was coming up in a big way and could have given Amitabh a serious fight but he left the film industry midway and he was Vinod Khanna. Vinod Khanna left movies to join Osho in Oregon Ashram, USA. This again left the field open for Amitabh to exploit his skills as an actor and experiment in other areas like comedy ( Satte Pe Satta, Namak Halal etc).
7. Then came 1984 – assassination of Indira Gandhi. Indira was assassinated in broad daylight by her body guards. Amitabh was reigning Superstar and close to Gandhi family. Her son Rajiv Gandhi became PM of India. Rajiv asked his friend Amitabh Bachchan to join politics and contest from his hometown Allahabad. Amitabh contested in 1984 Lok Sabha elections and defeated formidable rival Hemwati Nandan bahuguna and became MP.
8. So far so good. It was like a dream story. A struggling actor becomes a superstar, then member of Parliament and very close friend and confidante of Prime Minister of India.
9. Then came the bad phase.
10. V.P. Singh, then defense minister charged Rajiv Gandhi with bofors scam. And also charged Amitabh Bachchan and his brother Ajitabh Bachchan as beneficiary. This made Amitabh very vulnerable and he was vilified by the media. Media was out to take it’s revenge as it is rumored that Amitabh advised Sanjay Gandhi to muffle some of magazines who were indulging in yellow journalism and highlighting Amitabh – Rekha relations. His movies were also not doing well at the box office.
11. He left politics in 1987. He tried his best in movies in lead roles but couldn’t get much success. Eventually, he left movies and started his venture ABCL. ABCL was considered having a huge potential but it incurred heavy losses while hosting the beauty pageant Miss World in Bangalore in 1996. He was under huge debt and his assets including his Juhu bungalow was pledged. So much for the Superstar and friend of PM just 10 years ago.
12. But, he showed enormous character and resiliency to come back.
13. He understood that he has aged and can’t do justice to lead roles and movies like Lal badshah and Mrityudaata.
14. He started his second inning with TV show “Kaun Banega Crorepati” in 1999. The show was very successful and his demeanor again made him household name. This was turning point in his career. He was around 58 years old at that time but once again pulled up his socks to play for a new inning.
15. He also approached Yash Chopra for work and got a character role in Yash Raj movie Mohabbatein. Thus, he started his successful entry as character actor in films.
16. Then, he acted in critically acclaimed movie “Black” and proved his mettle once again.
17. Further, he bagged roles in Yash Raj movies like Veer Zara, Bunty Aur Bubbly which went on to become super hits.
18. Now, the world has known that Amitabh has returned in a new role with Big bang. In case of Amitabh Bachchan, there was golden era of 14 years (1973 to 1987), then difficult phase of 12 years (1988 to 2000) and again golden phase from 2000 till date.
19. What makes him different from other actors of his age is his versatility and commitment. He is committed to succeed at any cost. Even today, he reaches sets on time and he does rehearsals more than lead actors. Second, he usually does not get into controversies, keeps to his craft and appears as a humble and professional individual.
20. He makes it a point not to antagonize anyone and speak politically correct language. He doesn’t indulge in unnecessary controversies as this is not his forte. He understands he is not like politicians who thrive on controversial remarks. Rather, he focuses on his craft. His tweets are carefully worded.
21. And last but not the least – genetics. He is blessed with the genes that he doesn’t look like grumpy 79 year old man and still has the ability to enthuse people with his voice and mannerisms. and now he has broken into the American movie scene to star with actors like Tobey maguire, leonardo Decaprio etc and as usua; he killed it in the Great Gasby. He is worth net 400m usd