When Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan Done This Hrishikesh Mukherjee Movie Without Charging A Dime

1975 was a significant year for Hindi films since it witnessed the debut of the beloved blockbuster Sholay, which has now become a cult classic. Sometimes the enormous popularity of Sholay eclipses the success of another well-received 1975 movie that also included many of the same actors.

In addition to Sholay, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, and Jaya Bachchan acted in another film that year called Chupke Chupke, which was directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Even though Amitabh Bachchan’s stardom had skyrocketed after Zanjeer, did you know that he was eager to play a secondary role in this movie? Following a string of underwhelming and passably successful roles in the early 1970s, Amitabh Bachchan made his breakthrough in the action picture Zanjeer (1974), which helped to cement his reputation as the “angry young man.” Following Zanjeer, Amitabh became regarded as one of Bollywood’s leading performers.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee sought a fresh face for the second major part in his lighthearted comedy Chupke Chupke, thus, he chose Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore in the main roles. However, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan insisted on portraying the second major pair since they were both admirers of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s work. Amitabh’s growing prominence at the time made Hirishikesh Mukherjee apprehensive to cast him.

He didn’t believe he would be able to pay Amitabh and Jaya since he was also working on a very tight budget while shooting the movie. At that point, Amitabh and Jaya made the decision to cast themselves in the movie Chupke Chupke without charging a dime.

Chupke Chupke was a huge box office hit and had every aspect of the witty style for which Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films were renowned. Despite having a Rs 15 lakh budget, the film brought in Rs 1.5 crore at the box office. Veteran performers Om Prakash, Usha Kiran, and Asrani also acted in the film.