Actor Deepak Parashar, who was declared by a newspaper as Amitabh Bachchan's biggest competition in the 1980s, addressed the barrier that came up between them. He said that he brought up the subject in an interaction with Big B, and assured him that he wasn't the one who was pushing this narrative in the press. Deepak is best known for his work with BR Chopra in the 1980s, and he said that Bachchan could have felt a little insecure because he was working with all the top female actors of that era. In an interview with Vickey Lalwani, Deepak spoke about working with Big B on the film Sharaabi, and suggested that the legendary star had something to do with his friend Rakhee's demotion in a future film. He said, "It was the media that created this hype, by declaring in a headline, 'Move over Amitabh Bachchan, Deepak Parashar is here'. I was working with all the leading ladies of Mr Bachchan, and that probably incited them to write things." Deepak said that he clarified his stance with Bachchan at a function, and it was only after this that they worked together on Sharaabi. "You see, when I entered the industry, I was already a star. It's natural to feel a little bit of jealousy. But I don't understand what bothers them, whether it's an inferiority complex. The other person feels like they're a piggy. I'm not talking about Mr Bachchan," he said. Also read - ‘I’m not gay’: Actor pegged as Amitabh Bachchan’s competition was left penniless by wife, forced to work in B-grade movies to make end meets Deepak said that things further soured when he was replaced by Amitabh Bachchan in a film by Prakash Mehra. "He told me that the project was originally supposed to be mid-budget, but then more money came in, and they decided to go with Mr Bachchan. That made me upset," he said. Deepak said that 'there are many actors who are better than Mr Bachchan,' and proceeded to name Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, and Sanjeev Kumar. Despite the sourness, Deepak said that he's friendly with Bachchan's wife, Jaya Bachchan, and their son, Abhishek, whom he described as 'well brought up'. In an interview with Zoom last year, Deepak spoke about working with Amitabh on the film Sharaabi, but didn't mention extending an olive branch. "I worked with him in Sharaabi. I wanted to sort things out with him on the sets because I have a lot of respect for him. He is a tremendous actor and I have learnt a lot from him. I am grateful of getting the opportunity of working with him. But he chose not to mention this 'khatas' between us that time (on the sets). He was always cordial and so was I, hence I said 'let it go'. I decided not to bring up this topic with him on the sets. There were also many people around us. We met a lot of times after that but then, it was always very formal," he said.
