Throwback: When Vinod Khanna replaced Amitabh in Shaque
Throwback: When Vinod Khanna replaced Amitabh in Shaque
Bollywood Legend Amitabh Bachchan had his share of struggles in the Hindi film industry before rmerging as one of the biggest and unparralled actors in Hindi cinema. The actor has delivered 16 consecutive flops before writers Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar (Salim-Javed) saved his career by offering him the Prakash Mehra’s directorial Zanjeer in released in 1973. He never looked back following the blockbuster success of the film. Amidst his flop streak, Amitabh was replaced in several films. In a recent interaction, renowned director-editor Aruna Raje Patil shared one such incident when Amitabh was replaced by Vinod Khanna in the 1976 film Shaque.
Recalling the incident, Aruna shared that the producer was adamant about not casting Amitabh Bachchan in the film due to his poor box-office record at that time around. She said amidst an appearance on the YouTube channel Bollywood Crypt, their first casting was Amitabh Bachchan and Waheeda Rehman. (Around that time)
Amitabh’s films flopped and the producer
NB Kamat just didn’t want him. He told them that the film won’t happen’. So they said, ‘All right, who else then?’ He asked them to look for another actor, and a known one. So, only one name struck them and it was none other than Vinod Khanna. They arranged a meeting between Amitabh and NB Kamat. Amidst the meeting, Vinod Khanna agreed to do the film straight off.
Had Vinod Khanna not joined Rajneesh Acharya at Osho, he would have been enjoying the status which Amitabh was enjoying. There has been instances where in a film in which Vinod Khanna’s role was powerful Amitabh Bachchan got them trimmed. And after that Vinod vowed not to
co-feature with Amitabh Bachchan.
News Edit KV Raman
