Amitabh Bachchan has been given various nicknames throughout his career, like Shahenshah of Bollywood, Angry Young Man and Big B. Each of these titles had an origin, which dates back to his blockbuster movies. One such movie which crowned him with the name Angry Young Man was the 1973 film Zanjeer. Do you know producers were unsure whether to invest in the film as Big B had too many flops to his credit before Zanjeer? Also, the lack of superstars in the film made the producers apprehensive of their decision. That’s when actress Jaya Bachchan, who was dating Big B, stepped in to rescue him. Jaya was already a star back then. She, along with actor Pran, decided to join the cast of the film to gain distributors.
Before the release of the movie Zanjeer, Amitabh Bachchan gave 11 flops in a row and was on the verge of leaving Bollywood. Zanjeer’s director Prakash Mehra primarily approached Dharmendra and Dev Anand for the film, but they refused due to personal reasons. Dilip Kumar was also offered the role, but he rejected it after calling the lead character too uni-dimensional.
Writers of the film, Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, narrowed down their choices to Amitabh Bachchan. Salim and Javed were already impressed by Amitabh and decided to give him a chance. Prakash Mehra was doubting this decision. The previous track record of Big B’s flops films led no producer to invest their money in this movie.
To gain the trust of the distributors and producers, Jaya Bachchan decided to join the cast. This decision saved the movie from getting dropped. This film eventually saved Amitabh Bachchan’s career, as the movie gained the status of a superhit. Zanjeer was highly appreciated by the audience and critics.
A month after the film’s release, Amitabh and Jaya tied the knot on June 3, 1973.
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