By News18
Prakash Mehra鈥檚 Zanjeer remains one of the most iconic films in Amitabh Bachchan鈥檚 career to this day. The film marked the second inning of Big B鈥檚 career after back-to-back 16 flop films. The Salim-Javed written movie gave hope to Bachchan and got him all the success and a string of hits like Deewar, Sholay, among others. While Big B鈥檚 stardom is what almost everyone wishes for in the industry, Raza Murad believes it was his luck that made him who he is today.
In a recent interview with The Filmy Charcha, Raza Murad claimed that one needs 90% luck to make it big in the industry. While citing Amitabh Bachchan鈥檚 example, Murad revealed that the former was thrown out of Duniya Ka Mela and shared, 鈥淎mitabh Bachchan was thrown out of Duniya Ka Mela. The makers replaced him with Sanjay Khan. Sixteen of his films flopped. Distributors said nobody will turn up to theatres if he stars in a film. At that time, his luck was not with him. But when the luck was in his favour, everything fell in place.鈥
He explained, 鈥淲hen Prakash Mehra wanted to make Zanjeer, he went to Dilip Kumar, Dharmendra, Dev Anand, Rajkumar, and they all refused for some or the other reason. The subject was extremely hero-oriented, yet these superstars rejected it. Nobody knows why, but one can say that luck wanted Amitabh Bachchan to lead the film. When nobody wanted him, and Prakash Mehra had no option, Jaya Bachchan (then Jaya Bhaduri) recommended the director take Amitabh Bachchan 鈥 and the rest is history.鈥
Zanjeer marked a major breakthrough not just for Amitabh Bachchan, but also for the legendary writing duo Salim-Javed. The film鈥檚 iconic character Sher Khan, portrayed by Pran in his signature Pathani look, also left a lasting impact. With punchy lines like 鈥淵eh police station hai, tumhare baap ka ghar nahin,鈥 Zanjeer firmly cemented its place in Bollywood鈥檚 pop culture legacy.
Zanjeer follows the story of an honest cop Vijay, haunted by his parents鈥 murder and a recurring nightmare. As he battles the crime world, he finds allies in reformed gangster Sher Khan and Mala.