1.
Directors
And
Writers
Reserved
Their
Strongest,
Pivotal
roles
For
Amitabh
Bachchan
"To
go
back
to
Amitabh,
I
must
confess
there
is
still
a
lingering
issue
I
have
with
Amitabh
Bachchan.
A
big
disadvantage
of
working
in
an
all-star
movie
in
those
days
was
that
everybody
only
wanted
to
make
action
films,
which
automatically
meant
that
the
star
who
could
carry
off
action
with
the
most
flair
would
get
the
meatiest
part.
That's
how,
with
the
exception
of
Kabhi
Kabhie,
which
was
a
romantic
film,
none
of
the
multi-starrers
I
featured
in
had
an
author-backed
role
for
me.
Directors
and
writers
unfailingly
reserved
their
strongest,
pivotal
roles
for
Amitabh
Bachchan.
And
it
wasn't
just
me.
Shashi
Kapoor,
Shatrughan
Sinha,
Dharmendra,
Vinod
Khanna
faced
it
too."
2.
We
May
Have
Been
Smaller
Stars,
We
Were
Not
Lesser
Actors
Than
Him
"Amitabh
is
undeniably
a
superb
actor,
immensely
talented
and,
at
the
time,
the
number
one
star
who
ruled
the
box-office.
He
was
an
action
hero,
the
angry
young
man.
So
roles
were
written
for
him.
Although
we
may
have
been
smaller
stars,
we
were
not
lesser
actors.
Yet,
the
rest
of
us
had
to
constantly
measure
up
to
him.
We
had
to
work
hard,
really
exert
ourselves
to
match
up."
"In
my
time,
the
musical/romantic
hero
had
no
place.
Amitabh
was
an
action
hero
in
an
era
of
action
films.
As
such,
writers
gave
him
the
lion's
share
and
he
had
the
authorbacked
roles
in
almost
all
his
films.
This
gave
him
an
advantage
over
the
rest
of
us
who
had
to
make
our
presence
felt
with
whatever
we
got."
3.
Amitabh
Bachchan
Has
Never
Given
Due
Credit
To
The
Actors
Who
Have
Worked
With
Him
Rishi
wrote,"But
this
is
something
that
Amitabh
has
never
ever
admitted
to,
in
any
interview
or
book.
He
has
never
given
due
credit
to
the
actors
who
have
worked
with
him.
He
has
always
credited
his
writers
and
directors,
Salim-Javed,
Manmohan
Desai,
Prakash
Mehra,
Yash
Chopra
and
Ramesh
Sippy.
But
it
is
also
true
that
his
co-stars
had
an
undeniable
role
in
his
success.
Shashi
Kapoor
in
Deewaar
(1975),
Rishi
Kapoor
in
Amar
Akbar
Anthony
and
Coolie
or
Vinod
Khanna,
Shatrughan
Sinha
and
Dharmendra
all
contributed
to
the
success
of
his
films
where
they
shared
credit
with
him,
even
if
in
secondary
roles.
This
is
something
no
one
has
realized
or
acknowledged."
4.
Today,
If
Shah
Rukh
Khan
Is
Ruling
The
Roost,
Salman,
Aamir
Or
Hrithik
Will
Not
Accept A
Secondary
Role
He
further
added,
"But
it
was
the
way
things
were
and
we
accepted
it
gracefully.
Not
because
we
considered
ourselves
inferior
actors
but
because
tedha
sikka
chal
raha
tha
(that
was
the
coin
of
the
day).
It
cannot
happen
today.
No
Khan
works
with
another
Khan.
Nobody
is
willing
to
work
with
any
other
hero
on
such
unequal
terms.
Today,
if
Shah
Rukh
Khan
is
ruling
the
roost,
Salman,
Aamir
or
Hrithik
will
not
accept
a
secondary
role.
Vinod
Khanna
was
damn
good
in
Khoon
Pasina,
Shatrughan
Sinha
shone
in
Kaala
Patthar,
Shashi
uncle
was
superb
in
Kabhi
Kabhie.
But
if
they
remained
unappreciated,
it
was
because
they
were
working
at
a
disadvantage.
But
still
we
worked
together
amicably.