Hrishikesh Mukherjee and his ‘maharaj’ Amitabh Bachchan: ‘Gurupita’ who gave Big B his break, had him laughing in Anand’s climax

Like in the 1973 film Namak Haraam, which repeated the on-screen jodi of Rajesh and Amitabh, the Sholay actor was cast as a rich businessman’s son who is in for a rude awakening when he realises how the unprivileged class is treated by the affluent people ruling the society. His Vicky was almost a precursor to Vijay, and Bachchan too reiterated the same in a blog entry in 2009. “Zanjeer may have coined a new phrase for me, but the seeds of the ‘angry young man’ were sown in Namak Haram,” he wrote.

Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan (left) in Anand.

Or even a film like Abhimaan, which is still one of the most nuanced Hindi films on relationships, Bachchan played a successful singer who is jealous of his wife’s success. His Subir refuses to let Uma (Jaya) back in his life, and only gives in when they lose a baby. Subir was nowhere close to being the hero of this tale, and thus, it gave Amitabh a chance to play a complex man who just couldn’t let go of his ego. Abhimaan released soon after Amitabh and Jaya got married in real life, and Mukherjee was the first one to know about it after their parents. In a 1998 interview with Filmfare, Mukherjee said that when he learnt about the wedding from Amitabh, he told Jaya, “I’m not coming to the marriage from your side, I’ll be there from my son’s side.” For Amitabh and Jaya, Mukherjee was their “gurupita” as he was the one who gave them both their big break – with Anand and Guddi respectively.

In the year when Amitabh had two of the biggest hits of his career – Sholay and Deewar, Mukherjee presented Amitabh in a way that was the antithesis of the ‘angry young man’. Chupke Chupke and Mili both released in the same year and gave Bachchan one of the most wholesome years that any actor could hope for.

Mukherjee was known as an economical filmmaker who never wasted raw stock, had his actors giving in shots in the same costumes that they were already wearing and famously did not waste his time in explaining scenes to his actors. “He would tell us, ‘Stand here…’, ‘Walk this way…’, ‘Say it like this…’ And we did. That was his style of working. That’s the way he directed us. Our input was zero,” Bachchan said in the same Rediff interview but added that if it was a role like Mili, he would sit with the actor and guide him through each scene. Mili had Bachchan playing the role of an alcoholic who goes through a change of heart after he meets the titular character. In Chupke Chupke, Bachchan played a supporting role in a comedy film that is still regarded as one of his best comic performances.

Jaya Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan in Mili.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee himself believed that the way other filmmakers worked with Bachchan, they “reduced him to a stunt man” and couldn’t tap his full potential. He believed that the other directors of the time “tried to exploit his image”, which is probably why every time he worked with Bachchan, he gave him something new to present. But not all those experiments worked out. Their 1977 film Alaap failed at the time as Mukherjee was told that he “made a blunder by making him sing classical songs in Alaap when he was busy holding guns and booze bottles in other films.” But even then, it wasn’t the end of their journey. The duo worked together in Jurmana and Bemisal after this.

Mukherjee affectionately addressed Bachchan as ‘maharaj’, and would make it a point to catch Kaun Banega Crorepati everyday during his last years. Bachchan, during one of his blog entries, recalled that when he showed the DVD of Black to Mukherjee, he clutched it like a child and after watching the film, he called the actor. In an “emotionally choked” voice, Mukherjee said, “Maharaj… this is your finest! But it is still only 30% of what you can do!”

Amitabh Bachchan with Hrishikesh Mukherjee. (Photo: Express Archives)

Mukherjee had immense faith in Bachchan’s talent and was one of the first filmmakers who recognised it. Bachchan’s legacy will always carry the stardom of ‘angry young man’ days, but thanks to Mukherjee, it will always be a filmography that was never skewed in one direction.