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Amitabh Has Never Given Credit To Actors Who Played A Part In His Success, Says Rishi Kapoor

Some scars never fade.
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In his recently-released biography Khullam Khulla published by Harper Collins, Rishi Kapoor has made quite a few revelations.

One of them is an 'issue' he's had with Amitabh Bachchan and one that he continues to hold grudge against. It must be remembered that the two co-starred in quite a few hit films, like Kabhie Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Naseeb besides several others.

Kapoor writes that the 70s were a time of action films in Hindi cinema and Bachchan had a major advantage over other actors because he pulled off action films quite easily.

"None of the multi-starrers I featured in had an author-backed role for me. Directors and writers unfailingly reserved their strongest roles for Bachchan. And it wasn't just me. Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna faced it too," he writes.

He adds that the rest of the actors had to 'work hard', and 'really exert ourselves to match up'.

"Amitabh was an action hero in an era of action films. As such, writers gave him the lion's share and he had author-backed roles in almost all his films. This gave him an advantage over the rest of us who had to make our presence felt with whatever we got."

Kapoor then goes on to say that while Bachchan is an immensely talented actor, he never credited his co-actors for playing a part in making him a success.

"This is something that Amitabh has never ever admitted to, in any interview or book. He has never given due credit to the actors who have worked with him. He has always credited his writers and directors, Salim-Javed, Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra, Yash Chopra and Ramesh Sippy. But it is also true that his co-stars had an undeniable role in his success."

Kapoor says that whether it was Shashi Kapoor in Deewaar, him in Amar Akbar Anthony and Coolie or Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha and Dharmendra, all these actors contributed to the success of Bachchan's films where they shared credit with him, even if in secondary roles.

"But this is something no one has realized or acknowledged."

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.