Oct 11, 2023, 12:39 PM IST

Films rejected by other actors that made Amitabh Bachchan a superstar

DNA WEB DESK

Amitabh Bachchan is arguably the biggest superstar in the history of Hindi cinema, probably all of India

And while his talent and charm has been instrumental in getting him there, his choice of films has helped too

But several times, Amitabh was lucky to be cast in films that eventually turned out to provide him with a breakthrough

After his debut with Saat Hindustani in 1969, Bachchan had a string of 11 flops as a lead hero and had little prospects

Prakash Mehra’s Zanjeer turned it around for him, becoming a hit and establishing him as Bollywood’s ‘Angry Young Man’

However, the film’s writer Javed Akhtar once revealed that Amitabh was the last choice for the role after several heroes had rejected it

Similarly, Bachchan was cast in Yash Chopra’s Deewar only after Rajesh Khanna said no to the role

Amitabh’s biggest hit was Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay. But the role of Jai was initially meant for Shatrughan Sinha, who turned it down

The film that catapulted Amitabh to superstardom, Don was first rejected by Dharmendra, Jeetendra, and Dev Anand

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