When Bids Were On For A Tug-Of-War Between Vinod Khanna & Amitabh Bachchan
Film critic and author Khalid Mohamed remembers Vinod Khanna, the charismatic superstar and the rivalry which shaped Bollywood in the ‘70s
Vinod Khanna could
never ever play second fiddle. And that’s why, he could make mincemeat of the
most adored heroes – Amitabh Bachchan included-- even when cast in villainous
or subordinate roles at the outset of his career.
Before him, if the
Pune Film Institute-trained Shatrughan Sinha could draw attention as a baddy,
too, it was because of his hectoring and over-the-top style. By contrast, V.K.
– as he was often called by his contemporaries – could be fire and icy with a
flicker of his eyes, steel-strong dialogue delivery and a body language which
spelt don’t-mess-with me.
For someone who
came into journalism during the mid-1970s like I did, Amitabh Bachchan
and Vinod Khanna were at daggers drawn. Not in private life, not at all, but
professionally, the rivalry was palpable. And this was fanned by the press. A
Stardust cover story proclaiming Vinod Khanna to be No. 1 in the popularity
sweepstakes, was clearly a pointer towards downsizing the Zanjeer-Deewar
tornado Amitabh Bachchan.
Image Source: thehook
Whether Vinod
Khanna went with that, he would neither affirm nor deny. Moreover whenever I quizzed
him on the Bachchan phenomenon, the actor wouldn’t be comfortable. “Next
question, please,” would be the answer. Wise to the game of journos looking for
controversy, he opted not to go that route at all.
Also V.K. wasn’t
given to analysing his own performances, assigning the credit to his directors.
Of them, his obvious favourites were Raj Khosla, Raj N. Sippy, Manmohan Desai
and Gulzar.
Sunil Dutt
mentored Vinod Khanna by introducing him as a villain in Mann ka Meet. And then
in the ensemble cast of Reshma aur Shera, which also included Bachchan in the
role of a mute. Lore has it that Bachchan’s dialogue delivery was so
overpowering that his character was turned mute. This has been categorically
denied by Bachchan, though.
That Vinod Khanna
could kick butt and how was asserted with his films toplined by Dharmendra.
Rakhwala, produced in the south, is a must-see for action buffs, particularly
of hand combats or muqebaazi. And in Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Dharam saab stood
helplessly, all tied up while Vinod Khanna breathed fire during the song Maar
diya jaaye ya chood diya jaaye. That Raj Khosla film was a pre-cursor, quite
similar in content to Sholay. But the fearsome dacoit went under-rated. Amjad
Khan as Gabbar Singh became a national craze. Relatively Vinod Khanna as Jabbar
Singh (the names were a faint variation, right?), went by under-rated.
Besides Reshma aur
Shera, Bachchan and Khanna teamed up in Prakash Mehra’s Hera Pheri and Muqaddar
ka Sikandar, Desai’s Parvarish and Amar
Akbar Anthony, and Rakesh Kumar’s Khoon Pasina.
In Muqaddar ka
Sikandar, with Bachchan played the title role, Khanna may have not been
assigned enough substance as the film’s formal romantic lead. In the other
films, however, the sparring between the two actors was akin to a champion
boxing bout. If Bachchan eventually emerged the winner, it was in no small
measure because of better films, better directors and more commercial
successes.
Image Source: samayam
In any case, Vinod
Khanna was not in the game to prove any sort of point. He quit the movies
in 1982, to seek spiritual solace from Osho Rajneesh. It can only be guessed
that the complicated, competive and often soul-destroying ways of show town
and personal strife motivated Khanna to get away from the madding
crowd.On returning to B-town, after five years, he had to re-start from
scratch.
Curiously, the
Bachchan-Khanna team was never repeated again. After all, theirs just wasn’t an
era of a Muqaddar ka Sikandar Reloaded.
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