Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan were two consecutive names in the Hindi film industry during the 70s era, who rose to unparalleled heights of stardom and how. While the two of them went on to etch quite different graphs in their careers, it was their film together, Anand, which created a storm in Bollywood like no other. Moreover, the two actors were known to have shared a sweet and sour bonding, since they were competitors as well. Interestingly, their film, Anand was also a time which marked Amitabh’s spike in the career, while simultaneously dipping down Rajesh Khanna’s career thereafter.
In an older interview Bollywood Presents, Rajesh Khanna talked about how the screenwriter duo, Salim-Javed replaced him from the promising film, Deewar by conspiring him against doing it. Well, for those who don’t know, this film marked the starting point of Amitabh’s identity as the ‘angry young man’ of Bollywood. Rajesh Khanna mentioned that although the filmmaker, Yash Chopra wanted him to do the role in the film, it was Salim-Javed who were against the move. In his words:
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“Salim-Javed and I had differences. They refused to give the script to Yash Chopra because they wanted only Bachchan. So, although Yashji wanted me for Deewar, he had no choice. And, I guess overall, he must have felt that maybe Amitabh fitted the bill better.”
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Moving forth in the conversation, Rajesh Khanna had remarked seeing a few stills of the film, Deewar post its release. Rajesh added that upon inspecting it, he realised that Amitabh Bachchan was truly gifted and talented, and he could vouch for the same, since he had witnessed the latter in two films, Anand and Namak Haram. He stated:
“Later, I saw just two reels of Deewar, and honestly, I said, waah kya baat hail, Honest to God. Talent was always there whether I worked with him in Anand or Namak Haram – I mean handi mein se agar chawal ka ek daana nikalo to pata lag jaata hai ki kya hai, but talent needs the right break.”
In the concluding note of the interview, Rajesh Khanna shared that he was jealous of Amitabh Bachchan after his performance in Deewar. Explaining the reason for the same, the talented actor had mentioned how the latter became extremely successful, even after making the same mistakes in life and career like him. Rajesh Khana mentioned:
“After Deewar, I always envied him. The only thing is, I smiled each time he slipped because he made the same mistakes that I once made.”
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Despite working in some of the most iconic films together, it wouldn’t be entirely correct to categorise Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna as the best of friends back in the day. So much so to the extent that reportedly, the latter once vowed to never work with the former after their last film together, Namak Haraam. To explain things a bit, it was reported that Rajesh Khanna wasn’t exactly happy with the ending of his character in the particular film, wherein Amitabh’s character was originally destined to die.
Instead, he pressurised filmmaker, Hrishikesh Mukherjee to alter it and make his character die instead, since he felt that only the character who dies gets maximum audience retention. However, what soured things between the two actors was that even with the altered ending, it was Amitabh Bachchan’s character which grabbed more fame than that of Rajesh Khanna. As a result, he made a vow to never work with the former again.
What do you think about these unheard anecdotes about Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan? Let us know.
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