Amitabh Bachchan had quit the industry before Sooryavansham, recalls Rajesh Khattar: ‘I had to yell at him on set’ | Bollywood News

The year 1999 was extremely difficult for Amitabh Bachchan, who hadn’t yet recovered from the financial burdens brought upon his failed business, ABCL. In 1999, his company declared bankruptcy and later that same year, he made a comeback to films with Sooryavansham, in which he played a dual role. From 1994 to 1999, the actor had starred in just four films, Mrityudata, Major Saab, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Lal Baadshah. This made his fans and industry colleagues believe that he has taken a leave of absence from the movies.
His Sooryavansham co-star Rajesh Khattar was also under the same impression. Rajesh blindly took up the opportunity to work with Big B, but admitted in an interview that he was hesitant at first. Speaking with Friday Talkies, the actor said, “When the makers approached me for the role of both his brother and son, they asked me to watch the original film. However, I refused to watch it. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity of working with Bachchan sahab, because I didn’t want to doubt my decision.”
He added, “Sooryavansham came at a time when Amitabh Bachchan was coming back after a hiatus. Unhone tyag diya tha industry ko (He had given up). It was his comeback film. When he returned to making films, I simply took up the role thinking, ‘What if he decides to quit acting again?’ So I didn’t want to miss the chance at any cost.”
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Rajesh said that he wasn’t introduced to Amitabh Bachchan on their first day together. They simply hit their marks for the scene, where he was supposed to yell at Big B’s character. This made Rajesh nervous, but after two takes, they were done. Rajesh recalled his introduction with Bachchan went smoothly, as he remembered their previous meeting.
Recalling his experience of working with the legend, Rajesh shared, “We were shooting a few cuts for the song that comes in the beginning of the film. There was this one shot, where we were all sitting and Big B just had to walk past us and give a patriarchal look to us. Before shooting the scene, he took a few minutes to prepare for it, and when he actually shot it, the way he gave this ‘head of the family’ look to us, till date, it gives me goosebumps when I talk about it. That’s how amazing he is.”
Sooryavansham, which was the remake of the Tamil film Surya Vamsam, didn’t fare well at the box office at the time of its release. However, now it has become one of the most iconic films of Bachchan’s career, thanks to multiple re-runs on television.