According to many in the industry, Abhishek's marriage to Ash as well as the Big B ignoring many friends and prominent personalities in Bollywood during the wedding had marginalized the family in the filmi circles.
They said that while the marriage had brought Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan closer, while not inviting prominent stars, including the likes of Rani Mukherjee and Hrithik Roshan, had left the Bachchan family with many adversaries.
It was also apprehended that the marriage would affect the careers of both Abhishek and Aishwarya and that no top lead actors would be willing to pair with the former Miss World. However, nothing sort of this has happened and instead now the Bachchan family has emerged as the biggest camp in Bollywood.
Just two years back, when Abhishek's acting career was in tatters, and Jaya Bachchan was not doing films. It was only Amitabh Bachchan who was still going strong in his early sixties.
And then fortune swung in Abhishek's favour after the release of Dhoom and Yuva.
While the former brought him box-office success, the latter showcased his acting talent. Guru followed soon and is now considered to be Abhishek's biggest film released so far.
Today Abhishek has a string of successful movies under his belt and was even voted Asia's Sexiest Man by a magazine last year. And with Amitabh Bachchan giving some of his best performances in the recent years.
Even Jaya Bachchan is returning to films with Rituparno Ghosh's Sunglass and Yash Raj banner's Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. As a result, the name of the Bachchan clan has been steadily on the rise.
If there was any void, that has now been filled with the inclusion of Aishwarya Rai into the Bachchan family. With all the four members of the Bachchan family now active in films, the quartet make the most powerful camp in Hindi film industry.
The popular sentiment among trade analysts is that the market value of the Bachchans has increased after Aishwarya's marriage to Abhishek. But it is not one-way gain. Even Ash has benefited a great deal by becoming a part of the Bachchan household.
Today, filmmakers are hoping to cash in on the unique ensemble of the Bachchans. Ram Gopal Varma has already announced his Sarkar 2 with Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya. So has J P Dutta, who is planning to make ‘Aakhri Mughal' with the trio.
Even Shah Rukh Khan 's camp, including Farah Khan and Karan Johar, does not come close to the Bachchans.
While the Bachchan name is at an all time high, the Khans of Bollywood, on the other hand, seem to be uniting. Recently, SRK, Salman Khan and Saif Ali Khan shot together for a song for SRK's film Om Shanti Om. But there is still no other camp in Bollywood that comes close to giving competition to the Bachchans. - Chandan Das