A court in northern India has ruled that farm land was illegally allotted to Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan.
The actor bought the 90,000-square-foot plot from a village council in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh state. It was registered in his name in 1983.
Bachchan claimed the land was being used for agriculture and hence he should be treated as a farmer.
The court said the actor was no farmer and that registering the land in his name amounted to fraud.
Earlier, villagers had protested against the land allotment to the actor saying he was neither a farmer, nor a resident of the area.
Greatest actor
They said they had the first claim to the village land as residents.
Last year, the district magistrate of Barabanki gave orders to cancel the land allotment to Bachchan.
The actor filed an appeal with the revenue court in Faizabad town.
Following the court order, the land was quickly restored to the village council.
Officials say the actor could now be prosecuted for fraud.
Bachchan is widely considered to be India’s greatest actor ever. In a career that spans over 40 years, he has acted in more than 140 movies.
The actor topped a 1999 BBC News website poll to find the greatest star of the millennium, beating the likes of Marlon Brando and Charlie Chaplin.
Last year, he was awarded France’s highest civilian honour, the Legion d’Honneur.
The son of a famous Hindi poet, Bachchan moved to Mumbai (Bombay) to make a career in films after quitting his job as a freight broker in Calcutta.
The actor debuted in 1969 with Saat Hindustani [Seven Indians] – in which he played one of the seven leads.
He made his name in the 1970s and 1980s as a film action hero and gave several hits like Zanjeer [Shackles], Sholay [Burning Embers], Deewar [Wall] and Don.
He also showed his talent for comedy in films like Chupke Chupke and Amar Akbar Anthony.
In recent years, he has done several critically-acclaimed films, including Black [in which he plays an old man stricken with Alzheimer's] and Sarkar [where he plays a role inspired by Marlon Brando's Godfather].
Bachchan also played the very popular host of Kaun Banega Carorepati – Indian version of the UK game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
He has also lent his voice to the Oscar winning French documentary, March of the Penguins, for the Indian market.
In 2000, Bachchan became the first Bollywood star to have a wax statue at Madame Tussaud’s museum in London.
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