2000–2003: Debut and initial struggles In 2000, Bachchan made his film debut playing the male lead in
J. P. Dutta's war drama
Refugee opposite
Kareena Kapoor, who was also making her debut in the film. Although the film was an average grosser at the box office, both Bachchan and Kapoor received positive reviews for their performances. Film critic
Taran Adarsh of
Bollywood Hungama wrote that he "has all it takes to emerge a competent actor in years to come. Even in his debut-making film, Abhishek comes across as a fine actor and lives up to his family name." Bachchan next appeared opposite
Keerthi Reddy in
Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa, portraying an artist who falls in a one-sided love. The movie was neither commercially nor critically well-received. His third release of the year,
Dhai Akshar Prem Ke, was a remake of the 1995 American film
A Walk in the Clouds and turned out to be a box office flop. He also shot for a cameo in the 2001 film
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, a scene which was later edited out of the film. In 2002, Bachchan had four film releases, the first of which was the romantic drama
Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya, opposite
Karisma Kapoor and
Akshay Kumar. He then made a cameo in the Bengali film
Desh, which starred his mother Jaya Bachchan. His next role was in the comedy drama
Shararat, followed by
Om Jai Jagadish, where he was part of an ensemble cast. Both movies failed commercially. although the film was a flop. He then starred opposite
Aishwarya Rai in
Kuch Naa Kaho and joined
Ajay Devgn and
Bipasha Basu in
Zameen. Neither of these films fared well critically or commercially. For his final release of 2003, Bachchan appeared among an ensemble cast in
LOC: Kargil, portraying
Vikram Batra. It received mixed to negative reviews and was not a commercial success.
2004–2009: Breakthrough Bachchan's first project in 2004,
Run, which emerged as a critical and commercial failure. He then starred in
Mani Ratnam's political drama
Yuva (2004), which had a below average performance at the box office, but earned Bachchan his first
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He then made a cameo in the romantic comedy-drama
Hum Tum, and starred alongside
Shilpa Shetty and
Salman Khan in the
AIDS drama
Phir Milenge. Although not commercially successful, His next release,
Naach (2004), was poorly received by critics and the audience alike. , and Amitabh Bachchan at an event marking the audio release of
Dil Jo Bhi Kahey..., 2005 Bachchan's first release of 2005 was the crime comedy
Bunty Aur Babli, which featured him and
Rani Mukerji as the titular
con artist duo who perform several successful heists and fall in love along the way. The film emerged as the second highest-grossing Hindi film of 2005 and earned him his first nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Actor. This film also marked his first professional collaboration with his father Amitabh Bachchan, who played a police officer closely following the lead pair. Bachchan was next seen in
Ram Gopal Varma's political drama
Sarkar, which was a moderate success at the box office. His next two releases
Dus (2005) and
Bluffmaster! (2005) were both moderately successful, The year also saw Bachchan making cameos in the romantic comedy
Salaam Namaste, the Bengali film
Antarmahal, the comedy
Home Delivery, the action thriller
Ek Ajnabee, and the romantic comedy ''
Neal 'n' Nikki''. Bachchan won his third consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in
Karan Johar's ensemble musical romantic drama
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), which focused on the subjects of marital infidelity, emotional dissatisfaction, and dysfunctional relationships. Bachchan played the role of a PR associate whose wife (Rani Mukerji) is unhappy with their marriage, and so begins an extra-marital affair with a friend (
Shah Rukh Khan) who is also unhappy with his marriage to his wife (
Preity Zinta).
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was a popular release, earning over to emerge as the highest-grossing Hindi film in overseas markets to that point. Bachchan then starred opposite
Aishwarya Rai in the period romance
Umrao Jaan, a remake of the
1981 film of the same name. The film failed to earn the same level of appreciation as the original and was also a commercial failure. He was next seen in
Dhoom 2 (2006), which featured him and Uday Chopra reprising their roles from the original
Dhoom (2004) joined by new cast members
Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha Basu. With earnings of ,
Dhoom 2 became the highest grossing Indian film at that time, a distinction that was held for two years, though some critics commented that Bachchan was "reduced to a mere supporting player" to his co-star Roshan. Bachchan earned critical acclaim for his performance in Mani Ratnam's
Guru (2007), loosely based on the life of business magnate
Dhirubhai Ambani." The film starred him alongside Aishwarya Rai (their first professional collaboration after their engagement),
R. Madhavan,
Mithun Chakraborty,
Vidya Balan, and
Arya Babbar. The film was a commercial success at the box office, and earned him his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.
Guru was noted as the best Hindi film since
Lagaan (2001) by the
Los Angeles Weekly. His next release was the musical comedy
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007) alongside Preity Zinta,
Bobby Deol, and
Lara Dutta. The film was declared below average by Box Office India and was a moderate success overseas. In the 2007 melodrama
Om Shanti Om, he made a cameo alongside several Bollywood stars and made brief appearances in
Shootout at Lokhandwala and
Aag. Bachchan's first release of 2008 was
Ram Gopal Varma's
Sarkar Raj, which featured him and his father Amitabh Bachchan reprising their roles from
Sarkar (2005) while his wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan entered the cast as a new addition. This film proved to be successful at the box office and earned him his fifth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. After making a guest appearance in
Mission Istaanbul, Bachchan's next release was the fantasy adventure film
Drona (2008), which emerged as a major critical and commercial disaster. He was next seen in
Tarun Mansukhani's
Dostana (2008), a romantic comedy about two men (Bachchan and
John Abraham) who pretend to be gay in order to be allowed to live with a girl (
Priyanka Chopra), but then find that they have both fallen in love with her. The film emerged as a critical and commercial success at the box-office with worldwide revenues of over and earned him his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. Later that year he was seen in the family dramedy
Paa, which he also produced. The film's plot centered on a boy (Amitabh Bachchan) with
progeria whose parents were played by Abhishek Bachchan and
Vidya Balan. The movie was a "semi hit" at the box office,
2010–2017: Setback and ensemble films In the early 2010s, Bachchan experienced a brief setback in his career. His first release of 2010 was
Raavan (2010), in which he had the role of Beera (modeled on
Ravana, the antagonist of
Ramayana). The movie was a commercial failure. He then starred in
Ashutosh Gowariker's period film
Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey opposite
Deepika Padukone. Based on the book
Do and Die, the film is a retelling of the 1930
Chittagong armoury raid. Bachchan featured as the revolutionary leader
Surya Sen and Padukone played
Kalpana Dutta, his confidante. The movie received generally positive feedback from critics, but failed to deliver optimal results at the box office. In 2011, he starred in two action thrillers:
Game, in which he had the role of a casino owner in Turkey, and
Dum Maaro Dum, which showed him in the role of a previously corrupt
ACP. Neither of these fared well commercially, In 2012, Bachchan starred in the heist thriller
Players, a remake of 2003's
The Italian Job. Although journalists had high expectations, it failed commercially, was negatively compared to
The Italian Job, and highly criticised for its execution and performances. Bachchan then played the lead role in
Rohit Shetty's comedy
Bol Bachchan, which was a success at the box-office despite receiving mixed reviews from critics. Film critic Anupama Chopra called Bachchan a "good part of the film" and also commented that he "manages to sparkle even in a script that is lazy and determinedly lowbrow". He received several awards for his role, including Best Comedian from both
IIFA and
Screen. In 2013, Bachchan starred in
Dhoom 3, reprising his role from the previous two
Dhoom films. In this instalment of the series, he and Uday Chopra were joined by
Aamir Khan and
Katrina Kaif. The film received ambivalent reviews, and some critics commented that Bachchan's performance was overshadowed by Khan's. Earning in box-office receipts,
Dhoom 3 became the
highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time until it was surpassed by
PK in 2014. Bachchan was next seen in
Farah Khan's dance comedy
Happy New Year, a musical heist film, playing the second lead to
Shah Rukh Khan. The film featured an ensemble cast consisting of Bachchan, Khan,
Deepika Padukone,
Sonu Sood,
Boman Irani,
Vivaan Shah and
Jackie Shroff. The film became a major commercial success grossing worldwide, and earned him his sixth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. In the same year, he made a special appearance in the comedy
The Shaukeens. Bachchan was then seen in the 2015 family comedy-drama
All Is Well. The film received negative reviews and underperformed at the box office. His only release of 2016 was the comedy
Housefull 3, the third instalment of the
Housefull film series. The film was a commercial success at the box office.
2018–present: Streaming ventures and critical recognition In 2018, Bachchan starred in
Anurag Kashyap's
Manmarziyaan alongside
Taapsee Pannu and
Vicky Kaushal. He was praised for his nuanced performance and depth he brought to the character, though the movie was not a commercial success. It received mostly positive reviews. In the same year, he began starring in the TV series
Breathe: Into the Shadows, Alongside
Amit Sadh and
Nithya Menen which premiered on
Amazon Prime Video. The series received negative feedback from critics on its storyline, though for his performance Bachchan was nominated for the Best Actor in a Drama Series award at the
Filmfare OTT Awards. Bachchan's next project,
The Big Bull, directed by Kookie Gulati and produced by
Ajay Devgn,
Anand Pandit and Kumar Mangat, for which he started shooting in September 2019, streamed worldwide on 8 April 2021 on
Disney+ Hotstar. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but praised Bachchan's performance. He was then seen in
Red Chillies Entertainment production's
Bob Biswas, released in December 2021 on Zee5. The film received mixed reviews from the critics. In February of the same year, he began shooting for the social comedy
Dasvi, a film produced by Dinesh Vijan's Maddock Films and Jio Studios, alongside
Yami Gautam. It was released in April 2022, and while the movie received mixed reviews Bachchan was praised for his performance. HeMale) for his performance at the
2022 Filmfare OTT Awards. In late 2021, Bachchan started shooting for the Hindi remake of
R. Parthiban's Tamil film
Oththa Seruppu Size 7, tentatively titled
SSS-7 (
Single Slipper Size – 7). On 5 February 2022, Bachchan's 46th birthday, he started filming for
R. Balki's sports drama
Ghoomer, which was released on 18 August 2023. The film premiered at the
12th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, following which the critical reception was largely positive, and his performance of a brash cricket coach received praise and even earned him a nomination for Best Actor (Critics) at
69th Filmfare Awards. In the same year, he made a cameo in the action thriller
Bholaa. In 2024, Bachchan starred in the biographical drama film based on the life of cancer survivor Arjun Sen,
I Want to Talk, directed by
Shoojit Sircar. Bacchan received wide acclaim for his role.
Sukanya Verma of
Rediff.com wrote, "Bachchan conveys the numerous chapters and challenges of his mind, body and soul with a never-before candour".
Shubhra Gupta of
The Indian Express observed that "Bachchan lets go of vanity, revealing a thickened gut, and scars-on-the-belly, and an ability to bare.
I Want to Talk earned him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor. Bachchan played a father fulfilling his daughter's (played by Inayat Verma) dream in
Be Happy, his first film of 2025. Tamma Moksha of
The Hindu stated, "Abhishek and Inayat are convincing in their respective roles and bring the father-daughter equation to life. Abhishek true to Shiv (initially at least) sucks out the energy of every scene he walks in to with his grumpy demeanor." He next played one of the primary character in
Housefull 5 opposite
Jacqueline Fernandez. The film was released in two versions, titled
Housefull 5A and
Housefull 5B, each featuring a different climax and murderer. Lachmi Deb Roy opined that he gave a stunning performance.{{cite web |title=Housefull 5 Movie Review: Reasonably entertaining; Abhishek Bachchan, Nana Patekar and Chitrangada Singh's performances are 'Jolly' good == Other work and media image ==