{"id":15227,"date":"2025-09-24T19:39:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T19:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/24\/amitabh-was-to-be-named-inquilab-brother-reveals-bachchan-surname-adopted-to-reject-caste-bollywood-news\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T19:39:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T19:39:01","slug":"amitabh-was-to-be-named-inquilab-brother-reveals-bachchan-surname-adopted-to-reject-caste-bollywood-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/24\/amitabh-was-to-be-named-inquilab-brother-reveals-bachchan-surname-adopted-to-reject-caste-bollywood-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Amitabh Was To Be Named ‘Inquilab’, Brother Reveals: \u2018Bachchan Surname Adopted To Reject Caste\u2019 | Bollywood News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Ajitabh Bachchan revealed how their father Harivansh Rai chose \u201cBachchan\u201d to reject caste and why Amitabh was almost named Inquilab.<\/h2>\n
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Amitabh Bachchan is currently hosting KBC 17. (Photo Credit: Instagram)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Ajitabh Bachchan, younger brother of megastar Amitabh Bachchan, recently shared the fascinating origin of their family name. He revealed that their father, celebrated poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, deliberately replaced their original surname \u201cSrivastava” with \u201cBachchan” as a symbolic stand against India\u2019s entrenched caste system.<\/p>\n

Harivansh Rai, who belonged to the Kayastha community, first used \u201cBachchan” as a pen name. The word, which means \u201cchild-like” in Hindi, was a term of affection used by his mother. \u201cShe would call him, \u2018Bachchanwa kidhar hai?\u2019 He liked that and began using it as his writing name,” Ajitabh told RJ Sachin. Eventually, the pseudonym became the family\u2019s formal surname when Amitabh was admitted to school, marking a conscious rejection of caste-based identity.<\/p>\n

Amitabh Was Nearly Named Inquilab<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ajitabh also revealed intriguing details about the names his father had originally chosen for his sons. \u201cMy brother was five years older, and my father wanted to name him Inquilab, because he was struggling for independence. My name was to be Azad. I was born in Independent India,” Ajitabh said. He added that his daughter, a painter, has even created portraits depicting \u201cInquilab” and \u201cAzad.”<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Amitabh became the first in the family to officially use \u201cBachchan” as a surname. It has remained the family\u2019s identity ever since, representing both a legacy of literature and a bold statement against caste.<\/p>\n

Amitabh Bachchan\u2019s Current Work<\/strong><\/p>\n

At 81, Amitabh Bachchan continues to be one of the most active stars in Indian cinema. He is currently hosting the 17th season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), a show he has helmed for over two decades. On the film front, he was recently seen in his Tamil debut Vettaiyan and is gearing up for the sequel to Kalki 2898 AD as well as the courtroom drama Section 84. The actor also maintains a personal blog where he shares reflections on life, cinema, and family.<\/p>\n

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Shrishti Negi<\/a><\/p>\n

Shrishti Negi is a journalist with over eight years of experience in the media industry. She leads the Entertainment desk at News18.com. She writes breaking news stories, generates feature ideas, edits copies, …Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Shrishti Negi is a journalist with over eight years of experience in the media industry. She leads the Entertainment desk at News18.com. She writes breaking news stories, generates feature ideas, edits copies, … Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Click here<\/a> to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. Check latest Bollywood news updates, events and award shows, upcoming hindi movies<\/a> releases, exclusive interviews, box office collections, reviews<\/a>, trailers, and more.\u00a0Download the News18 App<\/a>.<\/div>\n
First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n
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September 25, 2025, 00:52 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

News<\/a> movies<\/a> bollywood<\/a> Amitabh Was To Be Named ‘Inquilab’, Brother Reveals: \u2018Bachchan Surname Adopted To Reject Caste\u2019<\/span><\/div>\n
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Last Updated:September 25, 2025, 00:52 IST Ajitabh Bachchan revealed how their father Harivansh Rai chose \u201cBachchan\u201d to reject caste and why Amitabh was almost named Inquilab. Amitabh Bachchan is currently hosting KBC 17. (Photo Credit: Instagram) Ajitabh Bachchan, younger brother of megastar Amitabh Bachchan, recently shared the fascinating origin of their family name. He revealed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}