Amitabh Bachchan, the Shahenshaah of Bollywood, was called the “angry young man” of B-Town in the 70s and 80s due to his action-oriented roles of honest but aggressive youth who fought the corrupt system. The movie that earned him this title was the 1973 film Zanjeer.
It, in many ways, turned things around for the future star who was, until then, still struggling to gain a foothold in the industry. However, not many are aware that Amitabh was not the first choice for the movie.
Zanjeer was supposed to be made with Dharmendra, who was already an established star at that point. According to media reports, director Prakash Mehra’s son Puneet said that it was Dharmendra who brought the script of Zanjeer to his father. Dharmendra had the script for Zanjeer, and because his previous film with Prakash Mehra, Samadhi (1972), was a hit, he presented it to the director, who loved the script and decided to make the film with Dharmendra as the lead. The actor, on the other hand, could not offer dates for almost a year because of other projects. Prakash Mehra then bought the script from Dharmendra for Rs 3,500.
The script was then taken to actors like Raaj Kumar and Dev Anand. While Raaj Kumar wanted the film to be shot in Hyderabad, Dev Anand wanted more songs in it, so the project did not happen. Prakash Mehra was then recommended to watch Bombay to Goa by veteran actor Pran, who eventually also went on to play the legendary character of Sher Khan in Zanjeer. While watching Bombay to Goa, the director exclaimed ‘mil gaya (got him)’ after a certain scene with Amitabh Bachchan and that is how Big B landed the role.
Amitabh had not exactly had a great filmography before Zanjeer and many advised Prakash Mehra against casting a relatively less known “unsuccessful” actor. However, the movie proved to be a gamechanger for Amitabh Bachchan and the rest, as they say, is history.
