Salim Khan, Javed Akhtar Share Jaya Bachchan Did Zanjeer Just For Amitabh Bachchan: 'She Knew His Career Would Take Off'

Zanjeer, which starred Amitabh Bachchan, is now recognised as a turning point in Hindi cinema. Interestingly, it’s also remembered for being a project that most actors initially turned down. 

Zanjeer, which starred Amitabh Bachchan, is now recognised as a turning point in Hindi cinema.

Source : IMDb

The recently released documentary series 'Angry Young Men' on Amazon Prime Video dives deep into the illustrious careers of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, the legendary screenwriting duo that forever changed Bollywood. The series is packed with fascinating stories from their lives, highlighting their journey to fame, particularly after the success of their groundbreaking film Zanjeer. This film, which starred Amitabh Bachchan, is now recognised as a turning point in Hindi cinema. Interestingly, it’s also remembered for being a project that most actors initially turned down. 

How Zanjeer's script was rejected

In a candid conversation with filmmaker Farah Khan, Salim Khan described the significance of Zanjeer. "Zanjeer is a game changer. Before that, films would have songs, comedy as the parallel track. So people initially didn’t understand what we were trying to do with our films as there were no songs, no comedy. One producer even told us that we wasted his 2.5 hours while we narrated Zanjeer to them," he shared. 

When Farah inquired about the number of rejections Zanjeer faced, Salim responded, "So many times." Javed Akhtar added, "Interestingly, all our films that went on to become superhits were first rejected many times. Then there was also a time that whatever we wrote, people would just accept it." 

All the top heroes rejected Zanjeer

Salim Khan also revealed that Zanjeer was initially rejected by all the top heroes of the 1970s. He said, "All of them, from Dilip sahab to Dharmendra and Rajkumar. We were not getting any hero, none of the heroines were also interested." Javed then chimed in, "Then we finally got Amitabh and when he agreed, we weren’t getting a heroine. First, we were not getting a hero and after Amitabh, no heroine was ready to do our film." 

Jaya Bachchan did Zanjeer just for Amitabh Bachchan

Salim then said, “Then we thought Jaya would not reject the film because Amitabh is getting a very good break. She knew Amitabh’s career would take off after this film. We had clearly told her that she hardly has any role in the film. She did it for Amitabh Bachchan.” 

Javed Akhtar reflected on why Zanjeer was such a tough sell at the time. "In retrospect, I don’t feel surprised that this film was being rejected by all. It was the peak period of Rajesh Khanna. People were loving Laxmikant–Pyarelal and RD Burman’s music. We were nonentities. We were two men roaming around with a script where the hero doesn’t have a song, doesn’t even romance, doesn’t even smile, and doesn’t even do comedy. At that time, it was unheard of. But a film would be superhit only if it is out of the current trend. But it is difficult to sell it." 

Zanjeer not only introduced a new style of storytelling but also marked the beginning of Amitabh Bachchan’s iconic image as the "angry young man."