'Most of us try to be good human beings; he was genuinely a good person.'
"They are all going, one by one," Amitabh Bachchan tells Subhash K Jha with a sigh.
"We didn't meet much. But when we did, we met with the same warmth that we shared when we worked together 50 years ago," he adds about his co-star and friend, Dharmendra.
"Most of us try to be good human beings; he was genuinely a good person. You could see it in that disarming smile which he had for everyone."
The Big B is indebted to Dharmendra.
"He got me Sholay. When I got to know about the project, I was keen to be part of it. Dharamji was already signed. I asked him to put in a word for me, and he did. That's how I became a part of the biggest film ever," he says.
Bachchan's journey into superstardom began courtesy Dharmendra.
"I got my first hit Zanjeer after Dharamji rejected the part. There is a lot I have to be grateful for," says Bachchan.
Dharmendra was the first hero Zanjeer went to, but he was promise-bound. A dear aunt of his had some differences with Prakash Mehra. She made Dharmendra promise her that he would never work with Mehra. And he never did.
Zanjeer was the first of seven films that Prakash Mehra and Amitabh Bachchan collaborated on.
It changed a lot of lives.
It gave a boost to the careers of Salim-Javed, Amitabh Bachchan and Prakash Mehra.
It redefined the screenplay for Hindi cinema.
The comedy track was done away with.
The hero didn't sing any song.
He didn't even smile.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff