Salim Khan Recalls Jaya Bachchan Had Saved Amitabh Bachchan’s Career When Other Actresses Bailed On Him(Photo Credit –Instagram/Imdb)
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Veteran and celebrated screenwriter Salim Khan revealed it was Zanjeer that turned Amitabh Bachchan’s acting career 360 degrees. However, did you know it was not him who was first chosen for the lead role instead, he had approached to Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar. But Dilip rejected the film as he thought he won’t have proper space to showcase his performance, and on the other hand, Dev Anand turned it down because the lead had no songs in the film.
However, then Zanjeer came down to Amitabh Bachchan, and it became a cult classic in Bollywood. Scroll below to know insights and what actually happened from the horse’s mouth, the screenwriter of the film, Salim.
Talking about how the script landed in the hands of Amitabh Bachchan, Salim Khan recalled the time and shared in conversation with his son Arbaaz Khan in his chat show, The Invincibles Series with Bollywood Bubble. He said, “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. Dev rejected it for his own personal reasons. I asked Dilip Kumar later which film he regretted not doing, and he said it was Zanjeer.”
Explaining further how then Amitabh Bachchan thought of quitting Bollywood once and for all because of his back-to-back 11 flops, Salim Khan said even if he was a new actor, he believed in him. And it was he who suggested Jaya Bachchan to play opposite Big B as other actresses would have bailed on him. Indirectly stating how Jaya Bachan saved Amitabh’s dooming career Salim revealed:
“He was also new—he was a good actor, no doubt about that, 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. And also at the time, heroines did not want to take on less roles. Ultimately, I suggested to take Jaya Bachchan for the film, and she would do it for him. 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.”
Zanjeer was the first film which saw Salim Khan-Javed Akhtar, the legendary screenwriter duo, changing the spectrum of films in Bollywood. However, soon enough, in the 80s the duo split-up.
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