India, Oct. 13 -- Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan's rise to superstardom began with a film that several established actors had turned down. When Prakash Mehra was casting Zanjeer in 1973, he approached some of Hindi cinema's biggest names, including Dharmendra, Dilip Kumar and Rajesh Khanna. Raaj Kumar was also reportedly considered for the role. Eventually, it was Amitabh, who was struggling to score a box-office hit, who landed the part of Inspector Vijay Khanna. The film became a turning point in his career and introduced audiences to a hero who was very different from the romantic leads dominating Bollywood at the time.

Dharmendra was among the first actors associated with Zanjeer. He had reportedly bought the story from Salim Kh...