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Filmmaker Nikkhil Advani, who worked at Yash Raj Films when he first started out, said that the industry used to be a family. Reflecting on how things have changed now, he recalled a story about Yash Chopra and Amitabh Bachchan, who worked with each other at different stages of their career and never overlooked the personal equation that they shared with each other. Chopra directed one of Bachchan’s landmark hits, Deewaar, and later helped re-launch his career after the actor witnessed a decline.
In an interview with Mirchi, he was asked what the biggest difference between then and now is, and he said, “Simplicity. While making Silsila, Yash Chopra asked Amitabh Bachchan, ‘How much do you want as remuneration?’ Amit ji said, ‘I want to buy a house, so I’m going to have to ask you for a decent amount this time’. He said ok. During Mohabbatein, when Yash ji asked Amit ji how much he wants, Amit ji said, ‘You gave me what I asked for back then, this time, I’ll do the film for Re 1’. He actually did it for Re 1.”
Nikkhil continued, “Films were made on the strength of relationships. These days, they’re made after calculations. It used to be a family. Pam aunty (Pamela Chopra) would make food for us. She’d go around asking if anybody had any allergies. She would create menus. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was made like that, Mohabbatein was made like that…”
Amitabh Bachchan was at the height of his success when Silsila was released in 1981. But his career slowed down in the 1990s, prompting him to step away and recalibrate. He attempted to rebound with the televisions show Kaun Banega Crorepati, and the film Mohabbatein. As the legend goes, Amitabh walked over to Yash Chopra’s house and asked him for work. At the India Today Unforgettables stage in 2016, Amitabh had said, “I had a huge financial failure in the corporation that I began. It went bankrupt and it bankrupted me. You sit back and think ‘What can I do?’ and I said, ‘You are an actor. Go back to acting so, that’s what I did. I went to Yash ji and said I am without a job. I need it.”
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