Dr Amitabh Bachchan. Sounds unusual? Sure it does! But the truth of the matter is that the De Montfort University at Leicester in United Kingdom has conferred a Doctorate on Big B and now he can get used to be called Dr Amitabh Bachchan. As usual he is being self effacing when he says, 'I am deeply humbled by this recognition. But truly, I feel unworthy.' Jhansi University had conferred a doctorate on him two years ago and by the end of this year, Delhi University is planning to honor him with an honorary doctorate as well. According to Mr Bachchan, his father Shri Harivansh Rai Bachchan had done PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University way back in 1954 and was referred to as 'Dr Bachchan' and whatever he is today is because of the academic influence of his parents on him.
He also says that his brother Ajitabh's daughter Nilima has finished her PhD in Aeronautical Engineering from UK and if there's a genuine Dr Bachchan in the family after his father, then it's her. A science graduate, he considers education to be 'Necessary for an individual pursuing any vocation'. As for a genius like Dilip Kumar who has had no formal education, Big B is of the opinion that the amount of introspection that goes into Dilip Saab's performance on screen is testimony to the fact that even though he is not formally educated, he has become an institution in his own right. As for daughter Shewta and son Abhishek, he says that even though as parents both he and Jaya gave adequate importance to their education, but their first priority has always been that they should be 'Good human beings more than anything else.'