Only film to feature Amitabh Bachchan and Jeetendra together, Salim-Javed took Prakash Mehra to sets before megastar got Zanjeer

Amitabh Bachchan and Jeetendra were two of the most popular actors of their time. They had huge fan followings. They would have broken all records if they had acted together in more films. But they only appeared together in one film.

Gehri Chaal, released in 1973, directed and produced by C. V. Sridhar under the Chithrakala Pictures banner, marks the only film where Amitabh Bachchan and Jeetendra shared the screen together. The movie featured a star cast that included Jeetendra, Hema Malini, and Amitabh Bachchan, with music composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal. In 1975, the film was remade in Tamil under the title Vaira Nenjam.

When Salim-Javed took Prakash Mehra to Gehri Chaal set

Salim-Javed and Amitabh Bachchan became stars after Zanjeer in 1973, but their collaboration started when Javed Akhtar met Amitabh on the Anand set, where he had a small role. Despite his earlier flops, Javed and Salim saw his talent and decided to cast him in Zanjeer, which turned his career around. Although the script was ready and Prakash Mehra was set to produce, most actors rejected the role due to its lack of romance and light moments. Despite Bachchan’s past failures, Salim-Javed pushed for him, and Mehra ultimately cast him, changing the course of his career.

Javed said, “So, one day, I found his (Amitabh Bachchan) phone number and called him and told him you might not remember me, but I have a script and I want to narrate it to you. He didn’t have much to do either, so he told me, ‘you can come right away’. I went there. I told him, ‘I will narrate the script to you, and I will also have you meet the producer, but please don’t discuss any terms and discussions with the producer, just blindly do the film.’ He asked me to narrate the story to him and I did. I still remember very clearly that he looked at me and said, ‘Do you think I can pull this off?’ Because till that time, he was playing poet, doctor, and writer, and so on. I said, ‘Nobody can do this better than you. Noone.'”

Following this, Javed Akhtar took Prakash Mehra to the sets of ‘Gehri Chaal’, where Amitabh Bachchan was filming alongside Hema Malini and Jeetendra. Here, they signed the film. Javed Akhtar said, "With or without Zanjeer, Amitabh Bachchan would have surely become successful in one or the other way. It is not possible to waste a talent like him.”

About the film Gehri chaal

The film revolves around Dharamchand, Chairman of Olympic Bank, who was found dead with a suicide note about financial fraud. His son, Ratan, hides the note and is blackmailed into aiding a robbery. Hema witnesses the robbers, and CBI officer Sagar investigates.