Rajesh Khanna |
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By the time Amitabh entered the film industry, Rajesh Khanna was already a national craze. He was Indian cinema's first superstar. He and Amitabh did two memorable films together, both blockbusters. The first was Anand which was released in 1971. AB played the memorable role of Dr. Bhaskar Banarjee and Khanna of the sick patient: Anand. Rajesh Khanna was brilliant as Anand and he obviously had the author backed role. But AB managed to turn a few heads as he played the role of 'BabuMoshai' to perfection. The second film they did was released in 1973, just before Zanjeer. The movie was Namak Haram and in it, it was becoming clear that AB was here to stay. Unlike Anand, he was the best thing in that film. The famous scene where he challenges the entire 'basti' was soon to become his trademark. Namak Haram was the turning point for the superstar torch to be passed from Rajesh Khanna to AB |
Shatrughan Sinha |
AB and Shotgun Sinha (as he was popularly known) made for an explosive combo, partly because the two never were known to be too fond of each other, and that resulted in some real cutthroat scenes. In particular, the confrontation scene in the chai stall in Kaala Patthar is one of the greatest in the history of Indian cinema. Amitabh and Shatru worked together in Raaste Ka Patthar, Dostana, Kaala Patthar, and Naseeb. |
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Rishi Kapoor |
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Rishi Kapoor worked with Amitabh for the first time in the 1976 in Kabhi Kabhi. He later usually played Amitabh's friend or younger brother in films such as Amar Akbar Anthony, Naseeb and Coolie.
His last movie with AB was Ajooba in 1991.
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Vinod Khanna
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AB and Vinod Khanna were going head to head for the no. 1 slot in the mid/late 70s up until the point where Khanna quit movies and left to joing Bhagwan Rajnish's ashram. But before that, each tested and extended the performance of the other in memorable movies like Hera Pheri, Khoon Pasina, Parvarish, and Amar Akbar Anthony. Their last movie together: Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) established Amitabh Bachchan as the first undisputed megastar of Indian cinema.
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Dharmendra |
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Dharmendra was one of the few actors during the 70s
and 80s who could come close to matching AB's charisma and star power. During the 70s and 80s, he gave quite a lot of hits in an era dominated by
Amitabh. He and Amitabh came together for two movies, both
of which were very memorable. Ram Balram in 1980 is the lesser known of
the two because the other one happens to be the most famous Indian film of all time: Sholay.
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Shashi Kapoor |
AB and Shashi Kapoor's combo was one of the best. They were the ultimate teammates and complemented each other's personalities and talents very well. From Deewar in 1975 to Akayla in 1991, they helped each other out and continued to light up the cinema screen. |
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Sanjeev Kumar |
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Amitabh acted with Sanjeev Kumar in Sholay and Trishul
where Kumar had major roles.
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Dilip Kumar |
Dilip Kumar is one of the few actors that is in AB's class talent and performance wise. He and Amitabh worked for the first and last time in 1982 for Shakti, a classic confontation tale between a father and a son. Both were brilliant, though I consider Amitabh to be slightly better. The drunken scene Amitabh does with Smita Patil in that movie is a clinic on acting! |
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Rajnikanth |
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Through out the 80s, RajniKanth was considered the
Amitabh Bachchan of the South. So for 1983's Andha Kanoon,
Amitabh Bachchan and Rajnikanth were brought together. The
combination worked well and repeated with Geraftar in 1985
AB and Rajni worked together for the last time in 1991's superhit: Hum
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Mithun Chakrobarty |
Mithun was the first of many 'Next Amitabhs' that started coming up in the 1980s. Obviously, there was none but Mithun was a fine actor and did two movies with AB. One was extremely bad: Ganga Jamuna Saraswati, but the other: AgniPath is a classic with brilliant performances from both actors. |
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Kamal Hassan |
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Kamal Hassan is one of the greatest actors of all
time. He has given successful peformances in both hindi and southern
movies. He played AB's younger brother in 1985's
Gerafthar |
Govinda |
Govinda is better known as the the Indian Jim Carrey. He excels in the 'physical comedy' genre of movies. He acted with Amitabh in Hum and Bade Miya Chote Miya. Of those two, only BMCM is a comedy and Govinda, with David Dhawan's help, was said to left a highlight impression on the film. |
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Shahrukh Khan |
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Amitabh Bachchan is Shahrukh Khan's idol. And his
performances in his early movies like Deewana and Baazigar in 1993
reminded people of a young Amitabh Bachchan who by that time had been on
his sabbatical. He has been a big star in the films since the mid-90s and
worked with AB for the first time ever in Adi Chopra's Mohabbatein. He is also doing Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham scheduled to release in late 2001. |