'Yaari hai imaan mera..': The key actor in many of Amitabh Bachchan's films

Over his vibrantly colourful career which has crossed the halfcentury mark and is still going strong Amitabh Bachchan was paired with several generations of heroines and held his own against many male peers as well as older and younger generations spanning Dilip Kumar to Shah Rukh Khan His real test however was to maintain the upper hand when facing accomplished character actors ranging from dastardly villains to steadfast friends and even longlost parentsThere are many such actors playing key roles in some of Bachchans iconic films would Inspector Vijay Khanna been successful in tackling crime without the tipoffs from an anonymous drunk or proved his mettle against a lesser villain than Teja would the fake Don have worked without the acumen of DSP DSilva or found himself in travails without the machinations of Vardhaman or Sikandar found his muqaddar without the advice of Dervish BabaBut while stalwarts like Ajit Iftekhar often the police superior and in one case the mafia one Madan Puri Om Prakash Prem Chopra Ranjit Nazir Hussain Satyen Kappu Kadar Khan Om Shivpuri MB Shetty among others provide more taste and variety to many of Bachchans masala films as both allies or antagonists there were at least two who made him scramble to match them onscreenThe first was arguably Hindi films once foremost villain whose onscreen relationship with Bachchan was aptly demonstrated in an exchange of exactly half a dozen words in one of their blockbusters As Bachchan asks him with his habitual insouciance Aap kaun hai maibaap he gets a terse but steely retort Tumhara baap The film was Amar Akbar Anthony 1977Pran who had a key role in getting Bachchan the role that made his name appeared onscreen with him in 11 films over a decade and a half and save the last two all are intrinsic to the Bachchan legendThe first to be cast in Zanjeer 1973 as the redoubtable Sher Khan it was the word of Pran who had gauged Bachchans intensity that finally convinced a reluctant Prakash Mehra to cast Bachchan in the role that laid the template of the angry young manAnd in the film right from their first scene where he is gratuitously insulted by the good inspector and controls himself after a flash of intense anger he marks his presence even after becoming an allyAnd Pran also creates a record in becoming a supporting actor who gets to sing in a film whose structure prevents the hero from doing soThe two came together in two films the next year 1974 in Kasauti where Pran pulls off with elan the role of the heros Gorkha friend and even gets to serenade the lead couple with Hum bolega to bologe ke bolta hai and then more prominently in Majboor where as smalltime thief Michael DSouza his evidence is key in getting Bachchan out of the murder charge he landed himself in when terminally ill He again gets a foottapping song Daru ki botal mein Phir na kehna Michael peeke danga karta haiAlso ReadAmitabh Bachchan turns 80 Live Updates Abhishek shares BTS video of surprising Big B on KBC setsThey reunited in Amar Akbar Anthony 1977 where Pran was the hapless driverturnedflamboyant smuggler who turns out to be the longlost father of the three heroes and then in Don 1978 where he as the crippled tightrope artiste is virtually the second lead and SalimJaved wrote as many crisp dialogues for him as Bachchan in both his rolesPran plays the longlost father again of Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor and the final saviour again in the multistarrer Naseeb 1981 the stern and embittered jailor in Kaalia 1981 the scene where a deadpan Bachchan predicts the entire sequence of his actions is priceless the rich but oblivious father whose neglect leads to Amitabh becoming the Sharaabi 1984 and the mentor in Shahensah 1988The last two appearances were in the subpar films the father in Toofan and an elderly assistant in Jadugar 1989The second actor appeared in 14 films with Bachchan and these also include some of the megastars best from Sholay 1975 to Mahaan 1983 But save two Amjad Khan was usually a villain in Parvarish 1977 Kasme Vaade 1978 Mr Natwarlal Suhaag both 1979 Ram Balram 1980 Naseeb 1981 Satte pe Satta Desh Premee both 1982 and Nastik 1983However in three Amjad Khan was a vital foil to Bachchan as the laughing gangster Dilawar in Muqaddar ka Sikandar 1978 the childhood friendturnedbenefactor Bishan in Yaarana 1981 and the estranged father in Laawaris 1981Neither Pran or Amjad Khan ever sought to upstage Bachchan but in their onscreen encounters they helped bring out his best as well as provide full entertainment to the audiencePlay Quiz How well do you know Amitabh BachchanThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever