Amitabh Bachchan the legendary superstar made
his entry into the films with ‘Saath Hindustani’ in 1969. The young lanky tall actor made his next
appearance in the film Reshma Aur Shera in which he essayed an important role
as the brother to the main lead Sunil Dutt. He played a role of a dumb man who
couldn’t speak.
This drama film was produced and directed by
Actor Sunil Dutt. It was one of Amitabh
Bachchan’s very first multi star cast appearance as the film starred WaheedaRehman as Reshm and Sunil Dutt as Shera. It also starred Vinod Khanna and
Rakhee besides Ranjeet, K. N. Singh, Amrish Puri in supporting roles.
It is said that Amitabh Bachchan got his first
break due to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s recommendation. Indira Gandhi,
Amitabh Bacchan’s mother Teji Bachchan and Sunil Dutt’s wife and actress Nargis
were very good friends. Indira Gandhi
personally sent a letter to Nargis requesting her and Sunil Dutt to cast
Amitabh Bachchan in this film.
Amitabh Bachchan’s voice that is known now to
be powerful with a deep baritone has made him unique and his voice is what made
him shine among the rest. But would you
believe that Sunil Dutt was worried and concerned about his deep voice. Therefore,
he gave him the role of a dumb man in the film !
In one of the scenes, Waheeda Rehman had to
slap Amitabh Bachchan on his cheeks, on the day of the shoot on the sets, Amitabh
Bachchan’s mother Teji Bachchan was also there who requested Waheeda Rehman to
be careful while slapping Amitabh Bachchan.and to be gentle on her son. Waheeda Rehman was in a dilemma herself how
to do the scene convincingly without hurting Amitabh Bachchan. She either had
to listen to the director’s instructions or Amitabh Bachchan’s mother’s. But
when Amitabh Bachchan got to know of this he made Waheeda Rehman feel
comfortable and said she can go ahead and slap and do the act as she wants . A
true actor he was willing to pay a price for it by getting slapped by her for
the scene.
But seeing Teji Bachchan on the sets, Waheeda
Rehman wasn’t comfortable to do the scene so she conveyed it to the director
who with an excuse ensured Teji Bachchan had left the sets and was not around
when the slapping scene was to be shot, and Big B got slapped by Waheeda Rehman
as per the requirement of the script.
Amitabh Bachchan was a big fan of Waheeda Rehman . When he was signed for the film Reshma Aur Shera, It was his first film with her and his first film with Rakhee, Vinod Khanna and Ranjeet. Thereafter they did many more films together as he rose to stardom. The film was set up against the backdrop of Rajasthan with the violent feud between two families and their clans. So friends we end here another interesting tale of Amitabh Bachchan’s filmy career. Who would have thought that this tall young dark and handsome actor would one day be the legendary icon in Bollywood.?
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