Amitabh Bachchan is among the most legendary and admired actors ever produced by Hindi cinema. Beginning from his angry-young man era to the last decade of experimentation, Big B has achieved unprecedented fame across households in India. But, the journey wasn’t always easy for him, and the actor faced a major setback in the ’90s when new actors like Salman, SRK, Aamir, Akshay and more began to make their mark. After taking a hiatus from acting, Amitabh made a much-awaited comeback with Sooryavansham, which has achieved cult status over the years. In a new interview, Rajesh Khattar, who worked alongside the megastar in that film, recalled some of his behind-the-scenes memories from the set.
Rajesh Khattar recalls yelling at Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan, who has always been a big name in showbiz, faced a rough path in 1999 where his company, ABCL, failed and left him bankrupt. Consequently, after a break, the megastar made a come back into films with Sooryavansham. Since he sparingly did films and they were not working, everyone in the industry thought he would leave acting, and Rajesh Khatter was one of them. In an interview with Friday Talkies, the actor mentioned that after he learned Big B would play a double role in the film, he didn’t consider anything else and took the golden chance to work with him. In his words:
“I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to work with Bachchan Sahab because I didn’t want to doubt my decision. Sooryavansham came at a time when Amitabh Bachchan was coming back after a hiatus. Unhone tyag diya tha industry ko. It was his comeback film. When he returned to making films, I simply took up the role thinking, ‘What if he decides to quit acting again?’ So I didn’t want to miss the chance at any cost.”