Big B Credits Dharamji for Sholay

 “They are all going, one by one,” sighs Amitabh Bachchan, grieving for his friend and fellow actor, Dharmendra.

“We didn’t meet much. But when we did, we met with the same warmth that we shared when we worked together fifty years ago. Most of us try to be good human beings. He was genuinely a good person. You could see it in that disarming smile which he had for everyone,” says Amitabh.

“He got me Sholay. When I got to know about the project I was keen to be part of it. Dharamji was already signed on. I asked him to put in a word for me. He did! That’s how I became a part of the biggest film ever,” he says, looking back.

In fact, Big B’s journey to superstardom began courtesy Dharmendra, in a way.

“I got my first hit, Zanjeer, after Dharamji rejected the part. There is a lot I have to be grateful for,” he reminisced.

Zanjeer was the first of the seven films that Prakash Mehra and Amitabh Bachchan collaborated on. It changed a lot of lives, boosting the careers of writers Salim-Javed and Mehra, besides Amitabh. It redefined screenplay for Hindi cinema. The comedy track was done away with, for once. The hero didn’t sing any song. He didn’t even smile in the film.

At the time Zanjeer was being planned, all of what Salim-Javed thought to be USPs in their script proved to be stumbling blocks. Many heroes refused Zanjeer. Dharmendra was the first to be approached, but he had promised a dear aunt of his, who had major differences with Prakash Mehra, that he would never work with Mehra. And he kept his word.