Amitabh Bachchan won't retire for fear of falling sick

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan said that he has no plans to retire from acting as he believes if he does so, he would fall sick. "I have always been confronted with the question about why I am working at the age of 71. I feel that if I stop working, I will fell sick. For each one of us work is important as it keeps our mind and body busy," Amitabh said after receiving the Lifetime Excellence Award 2014 during the inaugural session of the Indore Management Association's (IMA) 23rd International Management Conclave.

"If I am satisfied with my work and start thinking that I have done the best acting of my life, then the actor in me will die. I always long to face a new challenge," he said.

In the 1990s, his family members and few other close friends advised him to take a sabbatical since he had worked a lot. Acting on their advise, he took rest and did not work for almost four years, he said.

"But later on, I realised that it was the worst decision of my life," he said. Recalling the days when his company Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (ABCL) went bankrupt, he said, "During that period I walked into Yash Chopra's office and told him that I don't have any work and he offered me a movie. So I began working again".

"Later, I got an opportunity to host the show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' (KBC) after which I paid back all my debt, with my own resources. Today, I feel good that I had to face all those difficulties during that period which had taught me lots of lessons," he said. Responding to a question, Bachchan said, "I feel bad when people describe India as a developing country or a Third World country. I hate it. I believe that India has strength to become a First World nation on the basis of its youth power".