Father left him helpless, spent the night hungry..., if this director was not there Amitabh Bachchan would never have become a superstar

New Delhi. Whenever there is a discussion about the best directors of Bollywood, Prakash Mehra 's name will definitely be included. There are very few directors who take risks in their career. But Prakash Mehra is unique. In the 70s, he cast a flop actor in his film, whom everyone had forbidden him to cast. But his stubbornness made a flop actor a superstar.

The director ran away from home with 13 rupees

Born on 13 July 1939 in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, Prakash Mehra had no intention of making a name in the film world. He wanted to come to the industry to become a singer, but fate had something else in store for him. According to IMDb, Prakash was only 5 years old when his mother died. Then his father also left him helpless. Then the actor fled to Mumbai with 13 rupees. 

spent day and night hungry

He came to Mumbai without any godfather, but it was not easy to survive. He slept on empty stomach at the station, did odd jobs to survive. Then somehow he came to the cinema and did odd jobs like serving tea and water to the stars. He was rich in ability and luck, that's why while serving tea to the stars, he first became a production controller and then started assisting the director.

Luck shone with this film

Slowly Prakash Mehra 's career moved ahead and his first movie came in his kitty, named ' Haseena Maan Jaayegi ' (1968). Shashi Kapoor and Babita's movie became a hit at the box office and Prakash Mehra became famous as a director. Then he made the movie ' Mela ' in 1971 and ' Samdhi ' in 1972. These movies were also a huge success. In just five years Prakash Mehra became one of the best directors of cinema.

Amitabh's sleeping star shines

Then came the turn of ' Zanjeer ', which was not only a milestone in Prakash Mehra's career but also brightened the fortunes of Amitabh Bachchan. This was the first film made in his production house. However, you hardly know that earlier Prakash Mehra wanted to cast Dharmendra in 'Zanjeer'. But due to date issues, the He-Man could not do it.

Amitabh Bachchan got the film because of Pran

One day the director gets a call from veteran actor Pran. It was Pran who suggested Amitabh Bachchan's name to Prakash Mehra. At that time, Amitabh's fortunes were in decline. His films were flopping one after the other and he was labelled a flop actor. Casting Amitabh was a risk for Prakash Mehra because the actor was not a big star at that time. It was a difficult decision for Prakash to make the film by mortgaging his house and wife's jewellery, but he did not back off.

Prakash Mehra got taunted because of Amitabh

When the distributors came to know that Amitabh Bachchan was being cast in the film, they backed out. Many celebrities from the film industry advised Prakash Mehra not to cast Big B. People even taunted him. But he did not back off and somehow started shooting the film. Initially it seemed that the movie would not work, but when it was released, it created history. After this film, Amitabh Bachchan became famous.

Prakash Mehra, who directed films like 'Laawaris', 'Muqaddar Ka Sikandar', 'Namak Halal', 'Hera Pheri', died on May 17, 2009 due to pneumonia and multiple organ failure.

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