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Amitabh Bachchan's Brilliant Baritone, 25 times over
Everyone loves Amitabh Bachchan's voice, and here's proof.
Everyone wants a piece of Amitabh Bachchan.
And if they can't have the man himself, his famous baritone will do.
That's probably why the Big B has lent his voice to so many movies, and is still doing so.
Rajinikanth's much-awaited Kochadaiiyaan will be the 25th film that AB has lent his voice to.
Here's looking at the movies that Bachchan has provided voiceovers for.
Kochadaiiyaan
Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth go back a long way.
They have acted in films like Hum, Andha Kanoon and Geraftaar and they also share a warm relationship. So when Kochadaiiyaan came calling, the Big B did not hesitate to step in for the voiceover.
In fact, the Bachchan clan was present and offered much support during the trailer launch of Kochadaiiyaan as well.
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Mahabharat
Recently, Bachchan lent his voice to the mighty character of Bheeshma in the animated version of Mahabharat.
The film, which also featured the voices of Ajay Devgn, Vidya Balan, Sunny Deol and Anil Kapoor, was, unfortunately, a disaster at the box office.
Krrish 3
Amitabh Bachchan introduced Vivek Oberoi's villainous character Kaal in Krrish 3, and the latter did full justice to it.
Boss
Amitabh Bachchan and Danny Denzongpa go back a long way, with the latter having tormented Bachchan's onscreen characters many times in the past.
The Big B probably loved introducing Danny's character in the Akshay Kumar-starrer Boss.
Zor Lagaa Ke... Haiya!
Not many may have heard about this film which carried a message of environmental preservation. Mithun Chakraborty played a pivotal part in this film which also featured a bunch of children.
Since Amitabh Bachchan shares a long standing relationship with Mithun, his voice came in handy.
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
Amitabh Bachchan set the stage for Lagaan, as he played a sutradhaar (narrator) for the film.
The Aamir Khan starrer needed someone credible to establish the core concept of the film and when director Ashutosh Gowariker approached Bachchan Sr, he was game for it.
Jodhaa Akbar
After Lagaan, director Ashutosh Gowariker approached Bachchan once again to play sutradhaar in this historical epic.
Incidentally, the Big B's daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai played the titular role along with Hrithik Roshan in Jodha Akbar.
Ek Krantiveer: Vasudev Balwant Phadke
Actor Ramesh Deo and Amitabh Bachchan share a long association, having worked in one of their earliest films Anand together.
More than three decades laters, when Deo was making a historical film called Ek Krantiveer: Vasudev Balwant Phadke, Bachchan bailed him out with his voiceover when things fell through with Nana Patekar.
Swami
Swami was a lesser known film directed by choreographer Ganesh Acharya, and starring Manoj Bajpayee and Juhi Chawla.
Amitabh Bachchan was roped in for a voiceover but hardly anyone saw this box office disaster.
Parineeta
Amitabh Bachchan has a strong connection with Bengali literature and culture, thanks to his Bengali wife Jaya.
It may not have come as a surprise when he gave his voice to Pradeep Sarkar's adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's book Parineeta.
Insaaf: The Justice
But then again, Bachchan has lent his voice to all kinds of movies.
Including this Dino Morea starrer called Insaaf: The Justice.
The film also starred Sanjay Suri and Namrata Shirodkar, and was about justice for a rape victim. Bachchan was apparently so impressed with the script that he did not charge anything for the film.
Rudraksh
A huge mess of a film featuring Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty and Bipasha Basu, Rudraksh had its roots in the Ramayana. Amitabh Bachchan's voice was used to establish the plot but obviously couldn't save it.
Fun2shh... Dudes in the 10th Century
A time travel film, which wasn't as much fun, Fun2shh had Paresh Rawal as the central protagonist. He was perhaps the only reason for the Big B to lend his voice to the film.
Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost
Amitabh Bachchan shares a genuine fondness for filmmaker Approva Lakhia, who cast Abhishek Bachchan as the central protagonist in Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost. Since the film involved some of his favourite people, Amitabh gladly accepted the voiceover invitation.
Khushi
One wonders what, except perhaps Boney Kapoor's involvement in the film, prompted Amitabh to step in for Khushi.
This Kareena Kapoor-Fardeen Kapoor starrer was a perfect recipe of disaster.
Hello Brother
Long before Amitabh Bachchan played God in Salman Khan's God Tussi Great Ho, the senior actor lent his voice to the Khan family production, Hello Brother.
The film had Sohail Khan as producer-director, while Arbaaz and Salman played the lead roles.
Hero Hindustani
When Amitabh's protege Arshad Warsi was cast as the central protagonist in Hero Hindustani (Bachchan had given Arshad a break in his production venture Tere Mere Sapne), he happily became a part of the film.
Though the film didn't do really well, Bachchan's voice played its part in setting the pace for this Aziz Sejawal directed affair.
Tere Mere Sapne
Amitabh made sure that his voice was heard right at the start of his production venture, Tere Mere Sapne.
Zulm Ki Hukumat
An unofficial remake of Godfather, Zulm Ki Hukumat starred Dharmendra.
It was directed by Bharat Rangachary, the man who had been an assistant director on Amitabh's films like Chupke Chupke and Alaap.
Batwara
Though JP Dutta has never directed Amitabh, he has worked extensively with Abhishek (Refugee, LOC Kargil, Umrao Jaan).
But much before all that, the filmmaker had roped in the Big B for a voiceover for his film Batwaara, starring Dharmendra and Vinod Khanna.
Ghulami
Before Batwara though, Dutta had made his directorial debut with the magnum opus Ghulami.
Starring heavy weights like Dharmendra, Mithun Chakraborty and Naseeruddin Shah, a star was required to introduce the film, and Amitabh stepped in.
Kanoon Kya Karega
A well-made film featuring Suresh Oberoi and Danny Denzongpa, Kanoon Kya Karega marked the directorial debut for Mukul S Anand, who later roped in Amitabh for films like Agneepath, Hum and Khuda Gawah.
Shatranj Ke Khilari
The only Satyajit Ray film that Amitabh Bachchan has been associated with, Shatranj Ke Khilari featured Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey and Amjad Khan in key roles.
Bawarchi
A year after their successful film Anand, director Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Rajesh Khanna reunited for Bawarchi.
The film also starred Jaya Bachchan in a leading role. The Big B just couldn't be left out.
Balika Badhu
Sachin was just 19 years old when he played the lead in director Tarun Majumdar's Balika Badhu.
At one point, Amitabh's voice filled in for an elderly character in the film.