When Amitabh Bachchan and Kishore Kumar had a fall out due to misunderstanding and Rajesh Khanna jumped at the opportunity to replace him in a film, didn't charge a rupee

Amitabh Bachchan and Kishore Kumar have shared a great association. The teaming of Kishore Kumar's soulful voice with Bachchan's onscreen presence in his songs has created magic. These two legends have collaborated on some really memorable songs - from 'Dekha Ek Khwab' from 'Silsila' to 'Aree Deewano Mujhe Pehchano' from 'Don' to 'O Sathi Re' amidst so many others. But did you know that Bachchan and Kishore Kumar had a fall out once due to a misunderstanding.

Singer Amit Kumar, Kishore Kumar’s son, has shed light on what actually happened. In an interview with Radio Nasha, Amit shared, “Misunderstandings are a part of human relationships. My father was human, too. And Mr Bachchan has been a great actor. We’ve always had a good relationship with him, but yes, there was a bit of misunderstanding at that time.”


The tension, he revealed, stemmed from Kishore Kumar’s last directorial venture, 'Mamta Ki Chhaon Mein'. Kishore had hoped to cast a big name to give the film a boost, and naturally, Big B's name came up. “My father was directing 'Mamta Ki Chhaon Mein', it was his last directorial project, and he felt having a big actor in it would really help. Naturally, we suggested Mr Bachchan’s name. But at that time, Amitabh ji was extremely busy. Somewhere during all the back-and-forth, a misunderstanding developed,” said Amit.

The situation was, according to him, blown out of proportion by the media.He added, “The media really exaggerated it… you know how the media is. But later, everything got sorted out. Mr Bachchan came home, they hugged it out, the misunderstanding was cleared.”

Eventually, the role went to Rajesh Khanna who was considered Bachchan's rival that time. A lot of people have said that Khanna had a huge issue with Bachchan's growing stardom. Their competitive tension from the 1970s has long been documented, with Khanna once feeling overshadowed by Bachchan’s rise. In the actor's biography, 'Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India’s First Superstar', Khanna’s former secretary Prashant Roy recalled, “Those days, Kakaji used to be very angry with Amitabh Bachchan. He used to tell his close friends that Hrishikesh Mukherjee was his favourite director, but Amitabh had filled his ears.”


Despite the history, Khanna didn’t hesitate when Amit Kumar approached him for the role. Amit shared, “I asked him if he would do the role, and he said, ‘How dare you ask me that? I’ll come stand at Kishore Kumar’s door and ask why he didn’t call me earlier!’” Amit fondly shared. He also revealed that Khanna refused to take any payment for the film. “When my father tried to pay him, he outright refused.”

Interestingly, only a few months back, lyricist Sameer recalled a humorous moment that reflected the offbeat camaraderie between Kishore Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. Kishore once told Amitabh he wanted to act alongside him, to which Bachchan replied in classic deadpan style:“Dada, main hi ek bacha tha kya barbaad hone ke liye?” (Dada, was I the only fool left to be ruined?)