Amitabh Bachchan is one of the iconic actors of Bollywood and has entertained the audience for several years with his acting prowess and distinctive voice. During the initial stages of his career, he had to face many roadblocks and suffered rejections as well. His fortunes changed with the release of his 1973 film Zanjeer directed by Prakash Mehra. The film succeeded at the box office and thus he got his angry young man image in Bollywood. Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan penned this film, starring Jaya Bachchan, Pran Sikand, Om Prakash, Ajit Khan and others in key roles. Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan won the Filmfare Awards for this film in 1974 under the best story writer and best screenplay category. Gulshan Bawra won the Filmfare award under the best lyricist category.
Every aspect of Zanjeer received appreciation from the audience, especially the iconic sequences between Amitabh Bachchan and Pran Sikand. In this scene, the latter, playing the role of Sher Khan, visits a police station. He is about to sit on a chair when the former, playing the role of Inspector Vijay Khanna pushes the chair strongly to one corner. Sher Khan is shocked at this response. An agitated Inspector Vijay tells him,”Jab take baithne ko an kaha jaaye sharafat see khade raho. Ye police station hain tumhaare baap ka ghar nahi (Keep standing till you are asked to sit. It is a police station, not your father’s house).” Big B, as Amitabh Bachchan is fondly known, leaves the audience stunned with his brilliant expressions and strong baritone voice.
Not only the audience, Zanjeer had a strong impact on many actors as well. including Manoj Bajpayee. In an interview, Manoj Bajpayee revealed, “The film which has made my dream really strong is Zanjeer. What a movie. Mere young mind ko jo hua tha mujhe lagta nahi hai kisi aur film ne utna matter kia tha (No other film can match what Zanjeer did to my young mind). I saw that performance and said, yahi karna hai (I want to do this),” he said.
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