Mumbai: Salim Khan, a renowned screenwriter from the Salim-Javed pair, once discussed Amitabh Bachchan’s challenging times.
Lehren presented archive footage of Salim analysing the significance of setbacks in Big B’s life.
He expressed, “I’m not a psychiatrist, so I can’t pinpoint and specifically tell what went wrong with Amitabh Bachchan. I’m not very close to him at the moment, but I once was. I have done some 14-15 films with him. Many a time, it happens that a person becomes so habitual of winning that when they lose, it comes as a shocker.” His words carried a sense of understanding and empathy for Big B’s situation.
He further mentioned, “I’ll give you an example: If Sri Lanka wins a cricket match, it comes off as a surprise that they won. If West Indies loses a match, that comes off as a surprise, too. Amitabh Bachchan became so habitual of winning that even a minor setback or a failure had a deep impact on him, and he didn’t take it very well.”
The video appears to be from the 1980s or early 90s when Big B was neck-deep in trouble. At that time, Sri Lanka was considered a weak team.
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In the 1980s, VCRs emerged in India as a technological innovation in entertainment, causing a crisis in the Hindi cinema business. The wave also took a toll on Big B’s stardom.
Then, in the mid-1980s, Big B was caught up in the alleged Bofors scandal, which involved Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several other members of the Indian and Swedish administrations. For his part, Big B had insisted that his name was “planted” in the affair.
Later, Big B was entangled in massive debts when his production company, Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited, suffered massive losses. The production house went into debt following the Miss World beauty pageant’s failure in 1996. Big B’s lowest point came when he owed more than Rs 100 crore to creditors. However, the quiz-based reality show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ not only helped him escape the jam but also marked a significant turning point in his career, inspiring many with his resilience.
Salim Khan, the father of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, recently appeared in the streaming documentary ‘Angry Young Men’ alongside his writing partner Javed Akhtar.
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–IANS
