Looking Back: Amitabh Bachchan Vinod Khanna Prakash Mehra made a team
Looking Back: Amitabh Bachchan Vinod Khanna Prakash Mehra made
a team
Following the super-success of his directorial Zanjeer in 1973, Prakash Mehra roped in Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna for “Hera Pheri” which emerged as massive success, Prakash Mehra wanted to collaborate once again with the angry young man of Bollywood for a comedy-drama. He needed another actor to share the screen with Amitabh Bachchan. He approached a famous and popular hero of that time, who turned him down due to the shoot’s schedule. Another star agreed to take up the role but placed two conditions before the director. Wondering which we are talking about? Let us disclose.
Prakash Mehra had roped in Amitabh Bachchan, Saira Banu and Sulakshana Pandit for the film. The plot required another hero, so he reached out to
Feroz Khan, who was an established actor at that time and had a crazy fan following. When he reached out to narrate the script, Feroz Khan declined the offer as he did not want to work on Sundays. Hera Pheri’s movie schedule demanded him to work on Sundays as well.
Next, Prakash Mehra approached Vinod Khanna. When he heard the script, he placed two conditions before Prakash. The conditions were that he should be paid Rs 1 lakh more than Amitabh Bachchan’s fee; and secondly, his role in the film should be as meatier as Big B’s role. Prakash Mehra agreed to the conditions and signed him for the movie.
Hera Pheri was a story of two people Vijay and Ajay, who make a living by cheating people. Their partnership ends when Vijay finally gets to know about the man who murdered his father. People loved the friendship and the bond of the two actors on the silver screen, and the film turned out to be a huge hit.
Vinod Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan were the superstars of their era and collaborated on six films, which were a hit at the box office. Vinod Khanna received a Filmfare nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Hera Pheri. The movie also starred Asrani, Goga Kapoor and Kimi Katkar to name a few. Hera Pheri earned Rs 1.6 crore at the box office.
All said Prakash Mehra had a good team in Music Duo Kalyanji-Anandji, Lyricist Anjaa
Anjaan and Singer Kishore Kumar.
News Edit K.V.Raman
