Amitabh Bachchan Named Greatest Ever Bollywood Star with SRK Third

Legendary Indian film actor Amitabh Bachchan has been voted the greatest ever Bollywood star, in a poll conducted by Eastern Eye, a weekly publication. According to the notes on the paper's website, a survey of 100 top actors and actresses, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Indian cinema, picked the 70-year-old veteran as the most influential.

Bachchan's career spans more than four decades and shows no signs of stopping; the actor will be seen in Satyagraha - alongside Kareena Kapoor and Ajay Devgn - later this year. Bachchan also holds the honour of being the first Bollywood actor to be honoured with a statue at Madame Tussauds.

Earlier this year, Bachchan appeared opposite Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatby.

"If you take longevity, impact, number of fans and varied body of work into account then Amitabh Bachchan is the greatest movie star in the history of global cinema. No other movie star has remained at the very top for as long as he has," Asjad Nazir, Eastern Eye's showbiz editor, claimed.

Meanwhile, other famous names on the list included Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan) and a more modern star in Shah Rukh Khan; the two came in second and third respectively. Interestingly, Bachchan says he voted for Dilip Kumar.

The sharp end of the list is understandably populated with some of the most iconic names in the history of Indian (and specifically Bollywood) cinema, with veteran actress Madhuri Dixit coming in fourth. Legends like Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Dev Anand, Waheeda Rehman and Rajesh Khanna were also in the top nine.

"I am proud to be a part of that and I am also proud to be a part of the whole movement where cinema is getting better and we are trying to do something different... it [the recognition] also comes with a great sense of responsibility. I have to do better every time," Madhuri Dixit said.