Why did Abhishek modify his name? Astrologer spills the beans

Actor Abhishek Bachchan recently made his digital debut with the Amazon Prime psychological thriller Breathe: Into the Darkness. The series, created by Mayank Sharma, revolves around a 6-year-old girl, Siya, who gets kidnapped by a mysterious masked man. Abhishek plays Siya’s psychiatrist father who gets a ske d by the kidnapper to kill someone in order to secure her release. Now, when the series debuted a few days back, it occurred to the netizens that Abhishek Bachchan has changed his name to Abhishek A. Bachchan. Since then the social media has been rife with conjecture and speculations over Bachchan Jr’s change of name and in particular the significance of the extra ‘A’. But Dr Sachin K. Rastogi, a Delhi-based celebrity astrologer and numerologist, has put all these speculations to rest. Excerpts:

Q. Abhishek has recently modified his name. What does the extra ‘A’ stand for: ‘Amitabh’ or ‘Aishwarya’ or something else? Also, tell us about its astrological/numerological significance?

A. Well, according to numerology, Abhishek’s full name total used to come at no. 4, which is ruled by Rahu. It’s not considered a positive planet as per astrology. Now, his lucky numbers are 3 and 5. So, I needed to make an adjustment to his name by adding an alphabet which comes to No. 1. Now, the alphabets ‘A’, ‘J’, and ‘S’ all come to No. 1. My preference was the alphabet ‘A’ as it could easily fit in his name while fulfilling the requirement for No. 5. So, you see, it is not really related to the names of any of his family members.

Q. How does this name change work? In Abhishek’s case we learnt it first though the opening credit sequence of his web debut series Breathe: Into the Darkness. Where all this name change would be put into effect?

A. As per numerology, the numerically corrected name is meant to give greater luck to Abhishek’s career as well as an overall personality boost. This new name is only meant for print media, movie/series credits, posters, banners, etc.

 Q. For how long have you been advising Amitabh Bachchan with regards to astrology/numerology?

 A. It has been a decade since I have known Amit Ji and whenever his chart requires any change I give him suggestions. Now, I prefer doing predictions through astrology because it’s considered more accurate for predictions. My doctorate (PhD) is in astrology only.

 Q. 2020 hasn’t been a great year so far. Many people are already describing it as inauspicious. What is your assessment?

 A. Yes, it’s true that 2020 has not been so auspicious till date. According to astrology, a major reason behind Covid-19, earthquakes, etc, is a bad combination of Jupiter and Saturn. Since March 2020, both these planets have become retrograde. This is expected to continue till September 2020. Jupiter planet represents longevity, health, finance and Saturn represents delays, jobs, fire, and destruction. However, after the 3rd week of September 2020, I see a ray of hope as both Saturn and Jupiter will become positive for many months to come.

Q. What is your advice for our readers for the rest of 2020?

A. I believe this is the time for safety and preservation. People should take proper safety measures by wearing masks and it is important to wash hands after every 3 hours. Use best quality hand sanitiser, avoid unnecessary travelling, and do more of meditation and yoga at home.