“The hero had no songs… no romance.” Javed Akhtar recalled convincing Amitabh Bachchan to take up the role in Zanjeer after many actors turned it down, during the IFP festival, World’s Leading Festival for all things Creative X Culture.
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00:00I felt after seeing these 2-3 films, that this man is a major, major, major talent.
00:08We had written this film script, Zanjeer.
00:12No one was willing to do the film.
00:14Aur aap koi usse terms and conditions discuss nahi keejiye,
00:17but picture kar lijiye, kaise bhi ho sakar.
00:19Hats off to that man.
00:22When and how did you and Amitabh Bachchan meet?
00:25Because I have not come across that story anywhere yet.
00:28I remember very clearly, we were shooting some last scenes of
00:35Sita Aur Geeta perhaps.
00:38It was almost completed.
00:40Some patchwork.
00:41Or perhaps some dance.
00:45On the next floor, in Mohan's studio,
00:51shooting of Anand was going on.
00:54So because we knew Rajesh Khanna,
00:56we went in the set and Rajesh Khanna was the God that time.
01:00So I saw a young man sitting in the corner,
01:03tall, young, slim person.
01:05Then somebody told me that he is working,
01:08he has a very important role in this picture.
01:11He is Harivan Shah Bachchan's son, Amitabh.
01:15Then I was introduced to him.
01:16That's all. That was a very unevenful meeting.
01:23Meanwhile, I saw some of the films that did not do well.
01:26Parvana, Bombay to Goa, there was one more film.
01:30Yeah, there was.
01:31Except of one of his films in Goody.
01:33And suddenly I felt, after seeing these two, three films,
01:37that this man is a major, major, major talent.
01:43And both of us agreed on this that, my God, what an actor he is.
01:49Unfortunately, his films were not doing well that time.
01:53So we had written this script, Zanjeer.
01:57So the script was ready.
01:59Prakash Mehra was going to make it,
02:01but there is no hero available now.
02:03In retrospect, you will feel, why there was no hero available?
02:07No one was willing to do the film.
02:10Because those were the times of Rajesh Khanna and super-hit music
02:14of Fatih Burman and Laxmikant Piyalal.
02:16And here we had written a script
02:19where the hero had no songs,
02:21where there was no romance,
02:23he would not have any light-hearted scene and so on.
02:26So, at that point of time, people would wonder,
02:31what kind of a hero is this?
02:33He's been angry since the beginning.
02:36Is he a hero?
02:38So no actor was willing to do this role.
02:42And we kept on saying,
02:44that you should take Amitabh Bachchan.
02:47By the time Mr. Prakash Mehra would make up his mind,
02:50another Amitabh Bachchan film would come and fail.
02:54So he would get discouraged.
02:56But ultimately, he had no choice.
03:00But I must appreciate Mr. Prakash Mehra,
03:04that in spite of so many film stars rejecting that script,
03:09which was written by comparatively newcomers,
03:13we were not the star writers at that time,
03:16he did not drop the script.
03:18I did not understand the gravitas of this.
03:21I understand it now, hands off to that man.
03:25Otherwise, today, if a person writes the best script in the world,
03:28and three stars reject that,
03:29the producer will throw away the script.
03:31So one day, I found out his phone number,
03:35and I called him.
03:37And I introduced myself, I said,
03:39maybe you remember, maybe you don't,
03:41we had met there, I'm a writer,
03:43and I want to narrate a script to you.
03:45So when can I meet you?
03:47He was not very busy at that time.
03:49So he said, you can come right now.
03:53So I took his address.
03:56He used to live on the 7th Road,
03:58in a house called Mangal.
04:01So I went there.
04:03So I said, I will narrate the script to you,
04:05I will introduce you to the producer.
04:07And you don't discuss his terms and conditions,
04:10just do the film, however you can.
04:13He said, sunayiye.
04:15So I narrated the script to him.
04:18So I still remember very clearly,
04:21that he looked at me with certain wonder.
04:24He said, do you think I can pull this role?
04:28Because till that time, you were playing poet,
04:30and doctor, and writer, and so on.
04:33So yeh main kar sakta.
04:36But nobody can do it better than you.
04:38No one.
04:41So we spoke to Mr. Prakash Mehra.
04:44Then he was working in a film called Gehri Chaal,
04:47where Hemaji and Jitendra Sahab,
04:51three of them were in that film.
04:53And the shooting was going on in Rajkamal.
04:56So I took Mr. Prakash Mehra there,
04:58and introduced him.
05:00Thankfully, the deal was on,
05:02and he signed the film.