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Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar made Amitabh Bachchan the 'angry young man’ of Hindi cinema with Zanjeer in 1973, and the film proved to be a turning point in their careers. In a recent chat with his son Arbaaz Khan for Bollywood Bubble, Salim Khan shared that it was Bachchan’s destiny that he got cast in that film. He also spoke about Big B’s reclusive nature and how that created some distance between the two after the infamous Salim-Javed split.
Salim recalled that Dharmendra, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar had passed on the script and so it landed with Amitabh Bachchan. But at the time, no leading lady was ready to star in the film so he knocked on Jaya Bachchan’s (née Bhaduri) door and asked her to star in it. He shared, “I suggested ki Jaya Bachchan ko le lo. She will do it and she will do it for him. Kahani bhi sunayi Jaya ko toh unhone kaha ki mera toh kuch hai nahi isme zyada. Maine kaha ki haan isme kuch hai nahi aapka zyada magar Amitabh Bachchan ke liye yeh ek aisi kahani hai ki yeh phod ke rakh degi (I suggested let’s tale Jaya Bachchan. She will do it and she will do it for him. When I narrated the story to her, she said that she doesn’t have much to do in the film. I said yes, you don’t have much to do here but it can change Amitabh’s career).”
Salim recalled that they had such confidence in Amitabh’s professionalism and his acting that they kept pushing his name at every juncture. But after their split, the two did not stay in touch and Salim said that it was in Amitabh’s nature to be a little reserved.
He said, “Yeh jo thi relation rakhne ki repsonsibility, unpe thi. Aap jab bahut bade star ho jaate ho, aapki responsibility hoti hai ki usse milna julna jo bhi ho, relationship rakhna yeh aapka farz banta hai. Jo ki unhone shayad kisi vajah se nahi kia (The responsibility of maintaining relationships was his. When you become a big star, it is on you to maintain relationships, which, for some reason, he did not do).”
Amitabh and Salim worked again after the Salim-Javed split in the 1989 film Toofan, and Salim said that they were just as professional but mentioned that they were never friends. He said, “Maine kabhi claim bhi nahi kia ki main unka bahut bada dost hun ya humari dosti bahut achi thi. Unka nature jo hai , yeh sirf mere saath nahi hai aisa, sabke saath hi aisa hai ki kisiko bahut kareeb aane nahi dete voh. Professionally kaam kia, bahut achi tarah kaam kia. (I never claimed that we were very close friends. His nature, not just with me, is such that he never allows anyone to come close. We worked professionally, and we worked well).”
