Dharmendra reacts to Javed Akhtar's claim that he refused to do Zanjeer: 'Dikhaave ki duniya me haqeeqat dab jaati hai'

Dharmendra responded to new claims of Javed Akhtar about his film Zanjeer. The writer and lyricist said in a new interview that after Dharmendra had rejected the 1973 film, Amitabh Bachchan became their last option, who took up the lead role. Zanjeer was written by Salim Khan-Javed Akhtar. Reacting to Javed's latest statement, Dharmendra has now shared cryptic lines for him. Also read: After he cast Amitabh Bachchan in Zanjeer, people said Prakash Mehra had gone 'senile', says director's son

Dharmendra wrote in a tweet, “Javed, kaise ho… dikhave ki iss duniya mein haqeeqaten dabi rah jaati hain. Jeetey raho… Dilon ko gudgudana khoob aata hai… kaash sar chad ke bolne ka jaadu bhi sekh liya hota (how are you doing Javed. Reality often remains unheard in this world full of show offs. I know how to make people laugh… wish I could learn the art of speaking my mind).”

Recently, Javed Akhtar had recalled how Amitabh came on board with Zanjeer when everyone else had refused the film. He told India Today in a new interview, “Amitabh Bachchan was actually the last choice for Zanjeer. The script was written for Dharmendra ji but for some reason he later refused to work on it. Prakash Mehra now had a script but not a leading man. He was also producing a film for the first time since he had only directed before that. He went from actor to actor to offer the role. Some of them are not in this world while some of them are. Everybody refused to do this film.”

“I can also understand why they refused. It was a time when Rajesh Khanna was considered as God, music were a must in films, and Zanjeer offered no romance angle or even comedy. The hero was not even singing here. From the first frame to the last frame, he was supposed to be a very grim, serious, bitter person. This was never seen that time on the screen so obviously it was so different so everybody refused,” he added about actors who rejected the film.

Directed by Prakash Mehra, Zanjeer is one of the blockbusters in Amitabh Bachchan’s career which earned him the title of ‘angry young man’. Released in 1973, Amitabh played the role of inspector Vijay Khanna, who sets out to seek revenge for his parent's death after getting suspended from his duty. It also starred Jaya Bachchan.