Amitabh Bachchan once said that he got to be famous after working with this iconic star

Bollywood classic, five decades after its theatrical release. The Hrishikesh Mukherjee directorial, which starred Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna in lead roles, quickly became a box-office phenomenon as well as a milestone in Bachchan Sr’s career.

49, years after its release, an old interview of Bachchan is currently going viral. In a 1990 interview with Star Dust, the ‘Agneepath’ star stated that working with Rajesh Khanna played a big part in his rise to stardom. He revealed that after he did the movie, many people came up to him to ask after Rajesh Khanna, who was the reigning superstar at that time.

“When Hrishida asked me to work with Rajesh Khanna in Anand, it was a dream come true for me. The hysteria that be evoked was witnessed for the first time in the history of Hindi films. I got famous purely because I was working with Rajesh Khanna. People came and asked me questions like ‘How does he look?’, ‘What does he do?’ So I became very important, thanks to him. I have always had the greatest respect for Kaka," he said.

Before finalizing Rajesh Khanna for the lead role in Anand, director Hrishikesh Mukherjee initially considered Kishore Kumar and Dharmendra for the part. In fact, during a flight from Chennai to Mumbai, Mukherjee narrated the film’s storyline to Dharmendra. However, destiny had other plans, and the filmmaker ultimately chose Rajesh Khanna for the role.

Anand went on to achieve iconic status, celebrated for its poignant storytelling, unforgettable dialogues—most notably, “Zindagi badi honi