During the 1970s and 1980s, Bollywood was rife with rivalries, and one notable feud was between legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan and the outspoken Mukesh Khanna. Bachchan had once accused Khanna of imitating his style, which led to a heated exchange between the two.
Mukesh Khanna, who gained immense fame through Shaktimaan, revealed in an interview that he was often compared to Amitabh Bachchan early in his career, which deeply bothered him. He stated that people frequently claimed he was a copy of Bachchan, especially during his initial film failures, further commenting:
“Media once called Mithun Chakraborty, ‘Gareebo ka Amitabh Bachchan.’ I don’t know how he reacted, but if I was told that, I would’ve said, ‘Shut up.’ They would say, ‘You look like Amit ji, you copy him.’ A string of my films flopped, which is why people said that. Here, only success speaks the loudest. When Mahabharat happened, no one gave me the label of Amitabh Bachchan, which happened a lot during my film career.”
Mukesh also recalled being told his career wouldn’t succeed because of his alleged resemblance to Amitabh.
He shared that Bachchan himself had accused him of copying his style. In response, Mukesh defiantly questioned who Amitabh Bachchan was to decide his career’s fate:
“People would say, ‘You weren’t successful because you look like him, and now that Amitabh Bachchan himself said that you copy him, your career is over.’”
“He did say that, but will I be a flop because of that? Amit ji kaun hai jo mere career ko rok sakte hai? A friend of mine had told me how he was watching a film with Amit ji. It was a drive-in theatre, and he was on the bonnet. When my ad came, he saw it and said, ‘Saala copy karta hai.’ Years later, some YouTubers took the quote and wrote, ‘Amit ji’s one line destroyed my career.”
Mukesh further explained that every actor draws inspiration from others, citing examples of actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Manoj Kumar being influenced by legends like Dilip Kumar. However, he emphasized that inspiration is different from imitation, which he never indulged in.
Every actor is inspired by some other– Manoj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar were inspired by Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh is heavily inspired by Dilip Saab too. Even the initial roles of Amitabh Bachchan were inspired and why not, because you take in from what you see. There is nothing in that But if you do mimicry in your films, then you will be destroyed. Which is what I didn’t do.”
Khanna’s candid revelations offer a glimpse into the competitive atmosphere of Bollywood during that era. Let us know your thoughts on Mukesh Khanna’s statements.
