{"id":309797,"date":"2025-11-26T11:12:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T11:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/309797\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T11:12:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T11:12:09","slug":"when-dharmendra-revealed-how-he-helped-amitabh-bachchan-get-sholay-and-why-he-refused-amar-akbar-anthony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/309797\/","title":{"rendered":"When Dharmendra revealed how he helped Amitabh Bachchan get \u2018Sholay\u2019 and why he refused \u2018Amar Akbar Anthony\u2019 |"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"When The late actor Dharmendra<\/a> was admired throughout his decades-long career for his honesty, warmth and unfiltered personality. His passing has prompted fans to revisit the candid moments and quiet contributions that shaped not only his own legacy, but also the fate of some of Bollywood\u2019s most iconic films. This reflective tribute looks back at the star\u2019s most revealing confessions, including the surprising influence he had on classic casting decisions.<\/p>\n

The ‘Sholay’ casting secret<\/p>\n

In one of his most memorable revelations on Aap Ki Adalat, Dharmendra shared that he personally ensured Amitabh Bachchan<\/a> was cast as Jai in the 1975 blockbuster Sholay. The role was originally slated for Shatrughan Sinha, but Dharmendra championed Bachchan at a time when he was still building his career.<\/p>\n

Why Didn\u2019t Dharmendra Get State Honours At His Funeral? Here\u2019s The Truth<\/p>\n

He admitted frankly, \u201cI\u2019ve never spoken about this, but since Amitabh has started saying that I helped him get the role, I\u2019ll say it: yes, I did help him get the role.\u201d Dharmendra added that Bachchan \u201cused to come to me or else this role was going to Shatrughan Sinha.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why exhaustion led to big refusals<\/p>\n

Dharmendra also confessed to turning down a lead role in Manmohan Desai\u2019s iconic 1977 film, ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’. He explained that he was shooting two films at once, ‘Chacha Bhatija’ and ‘Dharamvir’, and was “literally tired”.His refusal led to a misunderstanding with director Manmohan Desai, who ultimately cut ties with him. Dharmendra said Manmohan Desai saw it as an ego clash but clarified that he chose his self respect over accepting a film when he was exhausted. This incident led to Amitabh Bachchan becoming Desai’s go-to hero for several subsequent blockbusters.<\/p>\n

Life\u2019s biggest achievement<\/p>\n

Dharmendra concluded the interview with a philosophical perspective on success, asserting that love is the greatest victory. He delivered a powerful saying: “Sab kuch paakar bhi haasle zindagi kuch bhi nahi maine dekhe hai ek se ek sikandar khaali haath jaate huye, yahan toh ye bhi mil gaya wo bhi mil ye bhi mil gaya, logon ke dil mai jo pyaar mil gaya isse badi koi cheez nahi.” For a man who defined romance, heroism and humility on screen, these words remain a timeless reflection of his character. Dharmendra, the beloved star who captured hearts for generations, passed away on November 24, 2025, at the age of 89 after brief health concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The late actor Dharmendra was admired throughout his decades-long career for his honesty, warmth and unfiltered personality. His…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,175815,175814,175818,175817,134,344,175816],"class_list":{"0":"post-309797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bollywood-history","11":"tag-dharmendra-and-amitabh-bachchan","12":"tag-dharmendra-career-achievements","13":"tag-dharmendra-legacy","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-movies","16":"tag-sholay-movie-casting"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}