What! Javed Akhtar reveals that Amitabh Bachchan wasn’t the first choice for Zanjeer that gave him the name ‘Angry Young Man’

MUMBAI: Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan who turns 80 today has a massive fan following all over the world. He has fans of all ages who look up to him and that includes celebs who aspire to be like him. But there can only be one legend and his legacy will be one that is deeply admired for decades to come.

Today on his birthday, writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar spilled the beans on the 1973 hit film Zanjeer that changed the trajectory of  Big B’s career completely.

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Bachchan was part of many flop films when Prakash Mehra’s Zanjeer came his way and he accepted it with open arms. But did you know that Big B wasn’t the first choice for the film, in fact, he was the last! Yes you heard that right! 

In  an interview with a news portal writer Javed Akhtar said, “Amitabh Bachchan was actually the last choice for Zanjeer. The script was written for Dharmendra ji but for some reason he later refused to work on it. Prakash Mehra now had a script but not a leading man. He was also producing a film for the first time since he had only directed before that. He went from actor to actor to offer the role. Some of them are not in this world while some of them are. Everybody refused to do this film.”

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Akhtar further added, “I can also understand why they refused. It was a time when Rajesh Khanna was considered as God, music was a must in films, and Zanjeer offered no romance angle or even comedy. The hero was not even singing here. From the first frame to the last frame, he was supposed to be a very grim, serious, bitter person. This was never seen that time on the screen so obviously it was so different so everybody refused.”

Akhtar also added, “Hats off to Prakash because even after everyone rejected the script, he kept his conviction. He did not leave it. I constantly kept nagging him that he should take Amitabh Bachchan but his films were faring on a weekly basis. Hence, it was not an attractive proposal that time. Eventually, Prakash Mehra ended up casting Amitabh. But when the script was written, we did not have Amitabh Bachchan in our mind. He was not in the scene.”

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Credit- Indiatoday