Salim-Javed were one of the most successful writer duos of the 1970s. Together, they gave Hindi cinema many blockbusters like ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Sholay’, ‘Deewar’, and ‘Yaadon Ki Baaraat’. With these films, Salim Javed made Amitabh Bachchan the king of Bollywood. But, do you know about that blockbuster film written by Salim Javed, which was rejected by stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna. Salim-Javed had written this film keeping Amitabh Bachchan in mind, but Bachchan sahab refused to do this film, after which both of them contacted Rajesh Khanna, but he too refused to do this film for some reasons. In such a situation, this film fell into the hands of a new actor of the industry and within no time, this actor became the new star of the industry.
Salim-Javed had separated in the 80s
Salim-Javed had separated in the 80s, but before separating, this pair gave many superhit and many blockbuster films to Bollywood. Not only this, it is said that the reason behind Salim Javed’s separation was this blockbuster film, which Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna had refused to do. The film we are talking about is ‘Mr. India’, in which Anil Kapoor appeared in the lead role. This film proved to be very lucky for Anil Kapoor’s career.
Where did the concept come from
The concept of this film came to Salim-Javed’s mind during the muhurat of the film ‘Nastik’, from which the lead actor of the film Amitabh Bachchan was absent, although he had informed Salim-Javed about his absence in the muhurat with a voice note. After listening to this voice note, the idea of making Mr. India came to their mind. Earlier, a similar English film had been made and its concept was also similar. Kishore Kumar starrer film ‘Mr. X in Bombay’ also had a similar concept.
Salim-Javed’s last film as a pair
Anil Kapoor and Sridevi starrer ‘Mr. India’ released in 1987 proved to be a cult classic. Film historian Dilip Thakur shared some interesting anecdotes about the Shekhar Kapoor directed film. Let us tell you, the story of ‘Mr. India’ was the last film of Salim-Javed as a pair. Both of them had completed the story of this film long ago, but work on the film started much later. Talking about the film, Dilip Thakur said, ‘There is a rumor that Mr. India was written keeping Amitabh Bachchan in mind, but he refused to do the film saying that if I don’t want to appear in it, then why should I do the film? Later, the makers contacted Rajesh Khanna, but he did not want to do the film which was rejected by Amitabh Bachchan.’
Mr. India.
The luck of the new actor Anil Kapoor has changed
Finally, a new actor Anil Kapoor was cast as the lead hero in this film. Let us tell you, ‘Mr. India’ released in 1987 was India’s first hit superhero film. The film was not only watched in India but also in China. Mr. India was awarded the Best Film, Anil Kapoor was awarded Best Actor, Sridevi was awarded Best Actress and Shekhar Kapoor was awarded Best Director.
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