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“Amitabh Bachchan Never Gave Due Credit To Co-Stars,” Says A Blunt Rishi Kapoor In His Book

bySaurabh Pandey
20th January 2017
3 minute read

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor is one of the most prolific film stars Bollywood has ever seen. Known for his candid and blunt opinions, it is Mr Kapoor’s newly released autobiography that is creating a buzz in the media these days. After admitting that he ‘purchased’ a Filmfare award once, this time it is a comment about Amitabh Bachchan that is making his book the talk of the town.

Rishi Kapoor talked about Amitabh Bachchan and confessed a ‘lingering issue’ he has with him. 

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“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.”

 

Praising Mr Bachchan for his flair for action films, he didn’t forget to add that the other actors of that time were no less in talent.

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“Amitabh is undeniably a superb actor, immensely talented and, at the time, the number one star who ruled the box-office. So roles were written for him. Although we may have been smaller stars, we were not lesser actors.”

 

The actor further added that although Big B had an advantage over other actors of his time, they worked really hard to match up to his level.

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“The rest of us had to constantly measure up to him. We had to work hard, really exert ourselves to match up. Amitabh was an action hero in an era of action films. As such, writers gave him the lion’s share and he had the author-backed 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.”

 

He also wrote that although Mr Bachchan never gave any credit to his co-actors, everyone accepted and respected the harsh reality.

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“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 realised or acknowledged. But it was the way things were and we accepted it gracefully.”

It seems like Rishi Kapoor has dug up some old bones in his book. Let’s see what Amitabh Bachchan and the other stars have to say about it.

News Source: Pinkvilla

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