In the 1970s, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan were fierce rivals. Amitabh, the rising superstar, gained fame as the ‘Angry Young Man’ through a string of successful films, while Rajesh, also known as Kaka, tried to maintain his status as the man with the Midas touch. By the 1980s, Rajesh’s career was declining as Amitabh’s was skyrocketing. During this period, Amitabh’s movie ‘Laawaris’ was released, featuring the popular song ‘Mere Angne Mein’, which became a fan favorite. However, Rajesh disapproved of the song.
The song ‘Mere Angne Mein’ showcased Amitabh dressed in a saree, dancing to his own voice. Rajesh found this portrayal lacking in dignity. According to Yasser Usman’s book ‘Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India’s First Superstar,’ Rajesh expressed in a 1982 film magazine, “I will never compromise on my dignity and don a saree and do a ‘Mere Angane Mein’ for all the money and all the applause in the world.”
In 1981, ‘Laawaris,’ starring Bachchan and Zeenat Aman and directed by Prakash Mehra, became a major hit. Other films like ‘Kaalia,’ ‘Yaarana,’ and ‘Naseeb,’ all featuring Bachchan, were also successful that year, solidifying him as the top star of the year. In contrast, Rajesh starred in ‘Kudrat,’ which did moderately well but didn’t match the success of Bachchan’s movies. His next successful film, Avatar, was released in 1983.
Amitabh and Rajesh’s first on-screen collaboration was in Anand, long before Amitabh rose to stardom, while Rajesh was already a leading figure in the industry. However, in a few years, when they both acted in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s ‘Namak Haraam,’ it seemed like Rajesh was acknowledging Amitabh as the new superstar. Rajesh Khanna mentioned in an interview with Movie magazine, “When I saw ‘Namak Haram’ at a trial at Liberty cinema, I knew my time was up. I told Hrishida, ‘Here is the superstar of tomorrow.'” Following Namak Haraam, the two never appeared together in any more feature films.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Amitabh Bachchan was recently seen in Ganapath. The film also starred Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon in the lead but failed to leave a mark at the box office. Next, Big B will soon be seen in Kalki 2898 AD with Prabhas and Deepika Padukone. The much-awaited film will hit theatres in 2024. Besides this, Amitabh Bachchan will also be reuniting with Rajinikanth for Thalaivar 170, the shooting for which is currently underway.
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