Salim Khan revealed that Amitabh Bachchan was planning to quit the film industry.
Salim Khan shared that Dharmendra and Dev Anand had declined to play the lead roles in Zanjeer due to personal reasons.
Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar are the creators of the “angry young man” in Hindi cinema with the 1973 film Zanjeer. The film proved to be a turning point in his career and also changed his fortunes. Amitabh Bachchan in the film industry, ranked him as one of the biggest stars of the era.
Recently he interacted with his son Arbaaz Khan Bollywood Bubble, Salim revealed that Amitabh Bachchan was planning to quit the film industry after delivering 11 consecutive flops before Zanjeer. The veteran screenwriter also shared that the main contenders for roles in Zanjeer including Dharmendra and Dev Anand had refused the film due to personal reasons.
Legendary actor Dilip Kumar, who was also offered the role, thought the lead character was very one-dimensional with no scope for performance. Later, the actor shared with Salim Khan that he regretted refusing the film.
“It was a matter of destiny as the script was ready with the dialogues. Whoever liked it – we had Dharmendra in mind, and he didn’t, for which I always feel a little sad. I asked Dilip Kumar later which film he regretted not doing, and he said it was Zanjeer.
He also mentioned that he and his former writing partner Javed Akhtar focused on Big B after being impressed by his performances in films including Bombay to Goa, Parwana and Raaste Ka Patthar. But director Prakash Mehra was not keen on signing Amitabh Bachchan for Zanjeer due to continuous flops at the box office.
“He was new too, he was a good actor with a good voice and personality. The rest of the films that failed were bad films, usually the actors are to blame. Eleven films flopped. He had already decided to quit and leave the industry,” said Salim Khan.
She also recalled that even actresses at that time did not want to take roles that required less screen time. Salim then suggested Jaya Bachchan to be brought on board for the film. She was one of the top stars at that time and also brought marketability to the film. “I told him the story, and he said ‘there is nothing for me…’ I said there is nothing here, but it is for Amitabh Bachchan and it will be explosive for his career,” he said.
Zanjeer became one of the biggest box office hits of the year of its release.
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