4 min readNew DelhiJun 29, 2026 01:32 PM IST
Amitabh Bachchan, a struggling newcomer from Allahabad (now Prayagraj), went on to become one of the biggest superstars of the Hindi cinema. Before being labelled as the iconic ‘Angry Young Man’ of the 1970s, the veteran actor faced a major box-office slump as a string of his films flopped. After back to back misfires like Bansi Birju (1972), Parwana (1971), Pyar Ki Kahani, and Reshma Aur Shera, Amitabh got a massive breakthrough with Zanjeer in 1973.
During a recent interview with Vickey Lalwani, Amitabh’s Gehri Chaal co-star Bindu recalled how the veteran star almost went back to his hometown, after consecutive flops. “I never expected that Zanjeer would become such a big film. It was Amitabh ji’s luck. He had a spree of back-to-back hits – Deewar, Zanjeer, and Sholay. I remember that we were shooting for Gehri Chaal (1973) in Madras.”
She further praised her former co-star and added, “Amitabh ji had a great role. He played Hema Malini’s brother in the film, but it sadly didn’t work at the box office. When it didn’t perform well, people sort of ignored him. He was a great artiste and used to do good work always,” she shared.
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The actor revealed that it was her Chinese hairdresser who told Big B to stay in Mumbai and that everything will be fine soon. “We were travelling together in a flight. My hairdresser was with me, she was Chinese. Everybody knew her, she had worked with Helen ji a lot. His film Bansi Birju (1972) was also a box office disaster, and 1-2 more movies. I still remember that he was saying in the plane, ‘My films are flopping, I don’t know what will happen now. Allahabad ki plane ticket kataani padegi (will have to go back to Allahabad now),” Bindu shared.
Bindu continued, “My hairdresser started consoling him and said, ‘No no, don’t say that, don’t say that. Everything will be alright’. I still remember that very well. After that moment, all his films were blockbuster hits and I think he never looked back again.”
Bindu and Amitabh Bachchan have collaborated on several films, including, Abhimaan, Gehri Chaal, Zanjeer, and Ganga Ki Saugandh.
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Jaya Bachchan had ‘great respect’ for husband Amitabh
In an interview with Hook Global earlier, Javed Akhtar had praised Amitabh Bachchan’s performance in Zanjeer and recalled his wife Jaya Bachchan’s support during his low phase. “Most of the time, we don’t respect the talent. There were very few people who had great respect for him, even after 11 of his films had flopped in a row.”
He added, “Jaya ji wasn’t his wife then, knew what he (was capable of) and had great respect for his talent. Hrishikesh Mukherjee had a great respect for his talent, and kept on giving him work. We saw him in a film that didn’t do well, but we could see that he is a volcano, waiting to erupt. He was very good in his worst films also. The film was bad, the script was bad, the dialogue was bad, the screenplay was wrong, but his work was impeccable. We had total confidence. Here is a major, major star who was waiting for the right opportunity.”
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