Mukesh Khanna Shares Amitabh Bachchan Once Said The He Copies The Megastar: 'Copy Karta Hai Meri'

Mukesh Khanna shared that during the early stages of his career, he was frequently accused of imitating Amitabh’s style, which many believed led to his initial struggles in the film industry. 

Veteran actor Mukesh Khanna recently opened up about how his acting career was often overshadowed by comparisons to Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan. In a candid interview with Bollywood Thikana, Mukesh shared that during the early stages of his career, he was frequently accused of imitating Amitabh’s style, which many believed led to his initial struggles in the film industry. 

Mukesh Khanna was accused of copying Amitabh Bachchan

Mukesh recalled how even Amitabh himself once thought he was copying his style. Reflecting on this phase of his career, Mukesh said, “Media once called Mithun Chakraborty, ‘Gareebo ka Amitabh Bachchan.’ I don’t know how he reacted but if I was told that, I would’ve said, ‘Shut up.’ They would say, ‘You look like Amit ji, you copy him.’ A string of my films flopped which is why people said that. Here, only success speaks the loudest. When Mahabharat happened, no one gave me a label of Amitabh Bachchan, which happened a lot during my film career. People would say, ‘You weren’t successful because you look like him and now that Amitabh Bachchan himself said that you copy him, your career is over.'” 

What Amitabh Bachchan felt about Mukesh's acting style

Mukesh also addressed the moment he learned about Amitabh's comments.  “He (Amitabh Bachchan) did say that, but will I be a flop because of that? Amit ji kaun hain jo mere career ko rok sakte hai? (Amit ji can’t stop my career). A friend of mine had told me how he was watching a film with Amit ji. It was a drive-in theatre, and he was on the bonnet. When my ad came, he saw it and said, ‘Saala copy karta hai.’ Years late, some YouTubers took the quote and wrote, ‘Amit ji’s one line destroyed my career.’ Every actor is inspired by some other– Manoj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar were inspired by Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh is heavily inspired by Dilip saab too. Even the initial roles of Amitabh Bachchan were inspired and why not, because you take in from what you see. There is nothing in that But if you do mimicry in your films, then you will be destroyed. Which is what I didn’t do,” he said in the interview. 

Mukesh Khanna appeared in Hindi films such as 'Saugandh', 'Saudagar', 'Hera Pheri', 'Yalgaar', and 'Plan'. He also gained widespread fame for his iconic roles in television shows like Mahabharat and Shaktimaan.