Salim Khan, Javed Akhtar reveal Dilip Kumar, Dharmendra rejected Zanjeer: ‘When Amitabh Bachchan agreed, heroines didn’t want to do the film’

When Farah asked how many times Zanjeer was rejected, Salim said, “So many times.” Javed added, “Interestingly all our films that went on to become superhits were first rejected many times. Then there was also a time that whatever we wrote, people would just accept it.”

Salim Khan revealed that all the sought after heroes of the 1970s rejected Zanjeer. He said, “All of them, from Dilip sahab to Dharmendra and Rajkumar. We were not getting any hero, none of the heroines were also interested.” Javed then shared, “Then we finally got Amitabh and when he agreed, we weren’t getting a heroine. First we were not getting a hero and after Amitabh, no heroine was ready to do our film.”

“Then we thought Jaya would not reject the film because Amitabh is getting a very good break. She knew Amitabh’s career would take off after this film. We had clearly told her that she hardly has any role in the film. She did it for Amitabh Bachchan,” Salim added.

Javed Akhtar also shared why he thinks people didn’t want to associate with Zanjeer. He said, “In retrospect, I don’t feel surprised that this film was being rejected by all. It was the peak period of Rajesh Khanna. People were loving Laxmikant–Pyarelal and RD Burman’s music. We were non entities. We were two men roaming around with a script where the hero doesn’t have a song, doesn’t even romance, doesn’t even smile, and doesn’t even do comedy. At that time, it was unheard of. But a film would be superhit only if it is out of the current trend. But it is difficult to sell it.”