Amitabh Bachchan's niece has a PhD in aeronautical engineering. Who is Nilima Bachchan? : 'If there is a genuine Dr Bachchan after my father, it is her’

The Bachchan family has been one of the most illustrious families in Bollywood. The family patriarch Amitabh Bachchan, aka Big B, is considered the greatest leading man in the history of Bollywood, who has headlined several epochal films such as Deewar, Sholay, Zanjeer, Don, etc. His wife, Jaya Bachchan (née Bhaduri), was one of the highest-paid actresses in the 1970s who appeared in several films that were commercial successes as well as critically acclaimed, such as Abhimaan, Koshish, Chupke Chupke, etc. His father, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, was a renowned poet, and his son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, are also prominent faces in the film industry. In 2006, Big B opened up on some of the lesser-known members of the Bachchan family who had made a name in other fields.

That year, the superstar was honoured with a doctorate from De Montfort University at Leicester and spoke about his father who received a PhD in English Literatutre from Cambridge University in 1954. He also talked about his niece Nilima Bachchan, the daughter of his brother entrepreneur Ajitabh, who completed a PhD in aeronautical engineering from the UK. “If there is a genuine Dr Bachchan after my father, it is her,” he told TOI.

He also spoke about other erudite members of the family. His other niece Namrita is a painter and a writer. His daughter Shweta was a voracious reader. He said that he is proud to be a graduate (Big B holds a degree in science from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University), though it has no direct influence on his career; it has helped shape him as an individual.

Who Is Nilima Bachchan?

Not much is known about the enigmatic Nilima Bachchan. She is one of the four children of Ajitabh Bachchan and his estranged wife, Romola, who is a socialite, lawyer and public relations officer. She has three siblings - Bhim, Naina and Namrita. Bhim and Naina are successful investment bankers, as per a Times of India report. Naina is married to actor Kunal Kapoor. Namrita holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, followed by an AAS degree in Graphic Design at the Parsons School of Design, New York (2003), and a course on botanical drawing at the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University (2018).

She has been working as a freelance graphic designer and photographer since she came back to India in 2005. She has also published two books of illustrated poetry, called Deliverance in 2007 and The House Of Wine in 2010. She has shown her work in Mumbai, Delhi, and London and was recently featured in a Tate Lates Contemporary Surrealist Photography event in 2020.