It was not until the success of Zanjeer that Amitabh Bachchan became a formidable force in Bollywood, and cemented his status as the 'angry young man'.
Amitabh Bachchan is certainly one of the most accomplished actors in the history of Bollywood, and boasts of a profilic film career spanning over five decades. Often called the Shahenshah, the Star of the Millennium, or simply Big B, he has been bestowed with six National Film Awards during his career. Having started off his acting journey with Saat Hindustani in 1969, he went on to do deliver some remarkable performances in films like Deewaar, Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Don, Namak Halaal, Coolie, and many others.
While he first gained popularity in the early 1970s for several of his on-screen roles, it was not until Zanjeer that he could cement his position as a bonafide star. With the film, he was established as the 'angry young man' of Indian cinema. However, as the actor marks his 82nd birthday on October 11, 2024, do you know that he wanted to quit Bollywood after 11 flops before Zanjeer?
Well, according to veteran screenwriter Salim Khan, Amitabh saw approximately 11 consecutive film flops at one point of his career, and that’s when he thought of quitting the film industry. However, all’s well that ends well because his fortunes took a turn for the better when he starred in Zanjeer, which marked a turning point in his career. In fact, there were several actors being considered for the role in Zanjeer, including Dharmendra, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. When they all refused the film for personal reasons, it went to Big B’s kitty and the rest, as they say, is history.
"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 Khan has once revealed.
Nonetheless, at that time, Salim Khan and his writing partner, Javed Akhtar, were already impressed with the actor’s performances in films like Bombay To Goa, Zanjeer director Prakash Mehra was not too keen to sign Bachchan for Zanjeer due to his string of flops at the box office. At that time, Salim reportedly attributed Amitabh's film failures to the quality of the films rather his acting.
"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 revealed.
In fact, Salim Khan even suggested casting Jaya Bachchan in the film, to further impress the audience. Ultimately, Amitabh Bachchan was able to revive his career, and ended up becoming the influential actors in the history of Indian cinema. With the success of Zanjeer, Salim–Javed wrote several of their subsequent scripts with Bachchan in the lead role, including Deewaar (1975) and Sholay (1975). Nonetheless, Zanjeer is considered to be a classic today, and was a super hit at the box office at the time of its release.
