courtesy: indian express
“Yeh Police Station hai… tumhare baap ka ghar nahi,” hollered Inspector Vijay Khanna in Hindi classic Zanjeer. This was the first time the legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan collaborated with the legendary screenwriting duo Salim-Javed. This was the first time Amitabh embodied the concept of the ‘Angry Young Man’ and thus a global icon was born in Indian cinema. Many people give the due credit to Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar for finding the diamond in the dust and platforming the actor Amitabh before he became the megastar of Indian cinema.
“We were sharp enough to realise that Amitabh Bachchan was a great actor, and it was his films that failed him. We backed his talent, and he repaid us with his great performance,” said Javed Akhtar at the latest session of Expresso.
The modern day great was joined by his daughter and filmmaker Zoya Akhtar in this conversation and spoke about everything from the present state of Hindi cinema, need for censorship, evolution of superstardom, and of course… Amitabh Bachchan. “We have to simply accept the fact that he is an exceptionally good actor. After Dilip Kumar saab, it is Amitabh. In fact, while Dilip saab did one film every two years, Amitabh’s turnover was almost 7-8 superhits a year,” remarked Javed saab.
Sharing the details, he said, “I have done 14 films with him and I have no complaints about how he delivered my lines. As a matter of fact, I am thankful that he elevated some of my lines.”
