‘Amitabh Bachchan heard the script at Jalsa all night, at 5 am he said…’: Vipul Shah reveals how Big B said yes to Aankhen, says he danced on the road after

Vipul Amrutlal Shah recalled gatecrashing Amitabh Bachchan’s shoot of another film just to narrate Aankhen to him.

Chennai | May 1, 2025 02:37 PM IST

3 min read

Amitabh Bachchan agreed to star in Aankhen after hearing 15-minute-long narration.

Filmmaker and producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah calls it a ‘miracle’ that Amitabh Bachchan signed his 2002 film Aankhen. In a recent interaction, Vipul shared an intriguing anecdote about how Big B came on board for Aankhen — a story that deserves a film of its own. Aankhen was one of the rare films where Big B appeared in a negative role.

Speaking to Bharti Singh and Harsh Limbachiyaa on their podcast Bharti TV, Vipul recalled gatecrashing Big B’s shoot for another film just to narrate Aankhen to him, a move that was, in itself, a huge risk. He said, “I gatecrashed Amitabh Bachchan’s shooting because I wanted him to hear the story of this film. I was standing outside his van when he came… so I had met Amit ji six months before this meeting… In my mind, I had thought that I would have to remind Amit ji who I am but he saw me and said, ‘Vipul what are you doing here?’ I became speechless for 10 seconds because he recognised me.”

He went on to say, “I told him that I want to narrate a film to him. He asked me how much time will I take to narrate it. I gave him options that I can narrate it in 15 minutes, 35 minutes and in 3 hours.” Vipul revealed that after confirming that his next shot would be ready in 35 minutes, Big B gave him 15 minutes to narrate the film.

Just after listening to the 15-minute-long narration, Big B agreed to do the film. However, his next request put Vipul and his fellow screenwriter Aatish Kapadia under immense pressure. He said, “I narrated the story in 15 minutes and Amit ji agreed to do the film. He asked me if I work during the night and when I said, ‘yes,’ he called me to his house, Jalsa, three days later for the 3-hour narration. So, I came out and called Aatish and told him to pack bags as we would be going to Khandala because we hadn’t written a word of the script. We couldn’t say anything to Amit ji because it was such a big opportunity.”

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Next, Vipul revealed that they wrote the script of the film — which would go on to be highly acclaimed and a blockbuster — in just three days. “We wrote the script in three days and narrated it to Amit ji. The narration went on for the whole night and in the morning at 5 am, Amit ji announced that he will do the film and the way he said it is still a high point in my life. He said ‘Vipul you can announce that I am doing this film.'” What followed was a celebration. “Me and Aatish danced on the street after coming out of Jalsa,” Vipul shared.

Aankhen was one of the highest-grossing films of 2002. It also boasts a highly talented cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Sushmita Sen, and Paresh Rawal.

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