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When a film becomes successful people mainly recognize the actor and actress. The reality is that actors and actress are just part of the process. Film making is a team work. Like actor and actress, director is very important in film making. It is the director who instructs the actor and brings out the best in him. For the success of Amitabh Bachchan, his acting talent is not the sole contributor. There are five directors who played very crucial roles in turning Amitabh Bachchan into a MEGA STAR. They are : Prakash Mehra, Manmohan Desai, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Yash Raj chopra, and Ramesh Sippy. In this entry I am going to write about Prakash Mehra. 

Zanjeer: 

What can be said about Prakash Mehra? He is the trend setter, legend creator. It was he who made today’s Amitabh Bachchan. Without Prakash Mehra Amitabh could not have made it. In 1973, Prakash Mehra exchanged a script with Dharmendra. Dharmendra was supposed to play the lead role along with Mumtaz but later, he could not give date for the film. Then Pran Shikhand, one of the most prominent actors of the then Bollywood, told Prakash Mehra to consider Amitabh Bachchan. At that time, Amitabh Bachchan was a struggling actor. That same year Bandhe Haath of Amitabh Bachchan was a flop. Many people thought that Mr. Mehra was crazy to cast Amitabh. Besides, the movie was very intense and it had only three songs. The worst thing happened when Mumtaz, who was chosen to play the female lead, decided not to do the movie. So, Prakash Mehra hired Jaya Bhaduri. The movie titled Zanjeer came out on May 20 1973. At first it did not do well in Bombay but then something happened and the film was a super hit. Not only Zanjeer was a hit movie but a trend setter as well. It also propelled Amitabh Bachchan’s career and turned him into a star. This is how the legend of Amitabh Bachchan started in Bollywood. In later years, Prakash Mehra and Amitabh Bachchan worked together in Hera Pheri, Muqaddar Ka Siqander, Lawaaris, Namak Halaal, Sharaabi, and Jaadugar. All except Jaadugar were very successful movies.