Quick answer: Amitabh Bachchan’s most famous dialogues include “Rishte mein toh hum tumhare baap lagte hain, naam hai Shahenshah” (Shahenshah, 1988), “Aaj mere paas paisa hai… tumhare paas kya hai?” (Deewaar, 1975) and “Don ka intezaar toh gyarah mulkon ki police kar rahi hai” (Don, 1978). Below are his most quoted lines, grouped by film in order of release, each with a short English meaning.
About Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan was born on 11 October 1942 in Allahabad (now Prayagraj), Uttar Pradesh, the son of the Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan. As of November 2026 he is 84 and still working. Fans call him “Big B” and “Shahenshah”, and his intense roles of the 1970s earned him the label “angry young man”.
- First film role: Saat Hindustani (1969). The same year he was the narrator’s voice in Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome.
- Hollywood debut: The Great Gatsby (2013), in a small role as Meyer Wolfsheim.
- Padma awards: Padma Shri (1984), Padma Bhushan (2001) and Padma Vibhushan (2015).
- Other honours: the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2018, and four National Film Awards for Best Actor, a record.
Much of his screen image comes from the writers behind his dialogues, above all the Salim–Javed team, who wrote Zanjeer, Deewaar and Don. In the lines below, the film name and year come first, followed by the line and what it means.
Amitabh Bachchan’s best dialogues, film by film
Anand (1971)
“Anand mara nahi, Anand marte nahi.”
(Anand did not die; people like Anand never die.) Bachchan played Dr Bhaskar Banerjee, the friend and doctor of Rajesh Khanna’s Anand, and this line comes from the film’s ending.
Zanjeer (1973)
“Yeh tumhare baap ka ghar nahin, police station hai, isliye seedhi tarah khade raho.”
(This is not your father’s house, it is a police station, so stand up straight.) Inspector Vijay’s warning to the gangster Sher Khan (Pran) was the line that announced the “angry young man”.
Deewaar (1975)
Deewaar has more famous Bachchan lines than any other film. Four of the best known:
- “Main aaj bhi phenke hue paise nahin uthata.” (Even today I do not pick up money that is thrown at me.)
- “Aaj mere paas paisa hai, bangla hai, gaadi hai, naukar hai, bank balance hai… tumhare paas kya hai?” (Today I have money, a bungalow, a car, servants and a bank balance. What do you have?) Shashi Kapoor’s reply, “Mere paas maa hai” (I have Mother), is one of the most quoted lines in Hindi cinema.
- “Tum log mujhe bahar dhoondh rahe the, aur main tumhara yahan intezaar kar raha tha.” (You were looking for me outside, and I was waiting for you in here.) Vijay says this in the warehouse fight scene.
- “Aaj khush toh bahut hoge tum.” (You must be very happy today.) Vijay, who never prays, speaks these words to God in the temple scene.
Kabhi Kabhie (1976)
The lines this page used to quote, beginning “Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai”, are not a film dialogue. They are from a poem by Sahir Ludhianvi that Bachchan’s character, the poet Amit, recites in the film, and the same poem became the title song. Because it is copyrighted poetry, we no longer reproduce it here; the film and its soundtrack are the best places to hear it.
Don (1978)
“Don ka intezaar toh gyarah mulkon ki police kar rahi hai.”
(The police of eleven countries are waiting for Don.) The full line goes on to say that catching Don is not just difficult but impossible, words Shah Rukh Khan repeated in the 2006 remake.
Kaalia (1981)
“Hum jahan khade ho jaate hain, line wahin se shuru hoti hai.”
(Wherever I stand, that is where the queue starts.) Bachchan says it in the jail scene, where he refuses to wait in line. Some film writers point out that the line is first spoken in the scene by the villain, played by Bob Christo, and turned back on him by Bachchan’s character.
Sharaabi (1984)
“Aaj itni bhi mayassar nahin maikhane mein, jitni hum chhod diya karte the paimane mein.”
(Today the tavern does not have even as much wine as I used to leave in my glass.) The film’s other famous line is “Moochhen hon toh Nathulal ji jaisi, warna na hon” (If you must have a moustache, have one like Nathulal’s).
Shahenshah (1988)
“Rishte mein toh hum tumhare baap lagte hain, naam hai Shahenshah.”
(By relation I am your father; the name is Shahenshah.) The vigilante’s introduction line gave Bachchan one of his lasting nicknames.
Agneepath (1990)
“Poora naam, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. Baap ka naam, Dinanath Chauhan. Maa ka naam, Suhasini Chauhan. Gaon Mandwa. Umar chhattis saal.”
(Full name, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. Father’s name, Dinanath Chauhan. Mother’s name, Suhasini Chauhan. Village, Mandwa. Age, thirty-six.) Bachchan won the National Film Award for Best Actor for this role.
Mohabbatein (2000)
“Parampara, Pratishtha, Anushasan. Ye is gurukul ke teen stambh hain.”
(Tradition, honour, discipline. These are the three pillars of this gurukul.) It is the motto of Narayan Shankar, the strict principal Bachchan played.
Sarkar (2005)
“Nazdiki fayda dekhne se pehle, door ka nuksaan sochna chahiye.”
(Before looking at the gain close at hand, think about the loss further down the road.) Subhash Nagre, the “Sarkar” of Ram Gopal Varma’s film, lives by this rule. It was the favourite line of this page’s original author, and it is still one of the most shared Bachchan lines.
Another Sarkar line that is widely quoted: “Mujhe jo sahi lagta hai, main karta hoon” (I do what I think is right), whether that goes against God, society, the police or the whole system.
Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap (2011)
“Abe buddhe, hoga tera baap.”
(Old man? Your father must be one.) The film’s title comes from this comeback, which Bachchan’s ageing gangster Viju uses on anyone who calls him old.
Lines we removed from this list
Earlier versions of this page included several more lines that we could not trace to a specific Amitabh Bachchan film, so they have been taken out rather than credited to the wrong movie. They were “Sawaal jis zabaan mein kiya jaye, jawaab usi zabaan mein dena chahiye”, “Ghadi ghadi drama karta hai saala”, “Chain khuli ki main khuli ki chain”, “Dushman se agar fayda ho, toh usko apna dost bana lo”, “Insaan ka emotion uske motion ke saath juda hua hai” and “Agar apni maa ka doodh piya hai toh saamne aa”. If you know which film one of them is from, tell us in the comments.
For lines from the actors who shared the screen with him in the 2000s, see our collections of Shah Rukh Khan’s popular dialogues and Akshay Kumar’s famous dialogues. If you like lines that motivate, our list of Bollywood motivational dialogues has more, and our explainer on Bollywood, the Indian film industry gives the wider background.
Frequently asked questions
What is Amitabh Bachchan’s most famous dialogue?
Two lines compete for the title: “Rishte mein toh hum tumhare baap lagte hain, naam hai Shahenshah” from Shahenshah (1988) and the “Aaj mere paas paisa hai…” exchange from Deewaar (1975), which ends with Shashi Kapoor’s “Mere paas maa hai”.
Which film is “Don ka intezaar toh gyarah mulkon ki police kar rahi hai” from?
It is from Don (1978), directed by Chandra Barot and written by Salim–Javed. Shah Rukh Khan repeated it in Farhan Akhtar’s 2006 remake.
Which film has the dialogue “Vijay Dinanath Chauhan”?
It is from Agneepath (1990). Hrithik Roshan played the same character in the 2012 remake.
Is “Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai” a dialogue?
No. It is a poem by Sahir Ludhianvi that Bachchan recites in Kabhi Kabhie (1976), and it is also the film’s title song.
When was Amitabh Bachchan born?
He was born on 11 October 1942 in Allahabad (now Prayagraj), so he turned 84 in October 2026.
Checked in November 2026 against Amitabh Bachchan’s published filmography and honours, and against dialogue lists in Indian entertainment media (India TV, Glamsham). Lines we could not trace to a film were removed.
