Salim Khan revealed that Amitabh Bachchan was planning to leave the film industry.
Salim Khan shared that Dharmendra and Dev Anand had refused the lead role in Zanjeer due to personal reasons.
Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar are the creators of the “angry young man” archetype in Hindi cinema with the 1973 film Zanjeer. The film proved to be a turning point in their career and it also changed the fate of Amitabh Bachchan in the film industry, positioning him as one of the biggest stars of the era.
In a recent chat with his son Arbaaz Khan on Bollywood Bubble, Salim revealed that Amitabh Bachchan was planning to leave the film industry after he had given 11 flops in a row before Zanjeer. The veteran screenplay writer also shared that the main contenders for the role in Zanjeer, including Dharmendra and Dev Anand, had refused the film for personal reasons.
Legendary actor Dilip Kumar, who was also offered the role, thought that the main character was too uni-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 because the script was ready with the dialogues. Whoever liked it- we had Dharmendra in mind, and he didn’t do it, something that I always feel a bit sad about. I asked Dilip Kumar later which film he regretted not doing, and he said it was Zanjeer,” Salim said.
He also mentioned that he and his former writing partner Javed Akhtar then zeroed in on Big B after they were impressed with his performances in films including Bombay to Goa, Parwana and Raaste Kaa Patthar. But director Prakash Mehra wasn’t keen on signing Amitabh Bachchan for Zanjeer due to his continuous flops at the box office.
“He was also new, he was a good actor with a good voice and personality. The rest of the films that failed were because they were bad films, actors usually have to take the blame for that. Eleven films flopped. He had already decided to leave the industry and go,” Salim Khan added.
He also recalled that at that time, actresses also did not want to take roles which had less screen time. Salim then suggested bringing Jaya Bachchan on board for the film. She was one of the top stars at the time and also brought the saleability of the film. “I told her the story, and she said ‘there’s nothing for me to do…’ I said there’s nothing much here, but this is for Amitabh Bachchan and this would be explosive for his career,” he said.
Zanjeer became one of the biggest hits at the box office in the year of its release.
