The turn of the millennium saw the release of Bollywood movies which would become entrenched in the collective consciousness of a whole generation, inspiring and influencing the next creators and artists. These movies were instrumental not only in the shaping of Bollywood but the creative direction it took over the next two decades.
One of these movies, released in the year 2000, was Mohabbatein starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan in the titular roles. Loosely inspired by Robin Williams-starrer Dead Poets Society (1989), it was directed by Aditya Chopra and produced by Yash Chopra. It went on to become a major commercial success, grossing Rs 90 crores worldwide and was the highest earning Hindi film of the year. That year, the movie dominated all the major award shows. Today, it turns 25 years old!
Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan who played the film’s antagonist Narayan Shankar famously charged only Rs 1 as an acting fee from Yash Chopra during a financially turbulent time in his life, and it was this film which changed the course of his life forever. So, as we celebrate 25 years of Mohabbatein, let us take a trip down memory lane and learn about what happened in early days of the 2000s.
The story behind the 1 rupee acting fee
The 1990s were set to be a promising decade for the Bachchans despite the fact that Amitabh Bachchan had announced his semi-retirement in 1993 and did not appear in films for 5 years after. During this time, he turned towards producing and established the Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited or ABCL, an entertainment company.
The company not only produced movies but dabbled in a host of other activities such as celebrity management, event management, distribution and marketing of television shows and movies among other things. It produced the 1996 Box Office hit Tere Mere Sapne which launched the careers of actors like Arshad Warsi and Simran. It also organized the Miss World 1996 event in Bengaluru.
However, things did not remain rosy for long as by 1999, ABCL had already declared bankruptcy having been involved in financial difficulties due to gross mismanagement. The Bachchans bled money with 55 lawsuits filed against them and a debt of Rs 90 crores in debt. To add on to the problems, Amitabh Bachchan’s movies in the latter half of the 90s were not only critical but also commercial failures. Until Mohabbatein, he was in a deep pit of serious trouble.
According to a Hindustan Times report, he said at an India Today event in 2016, ““I had a huge financial failure in the corporation that I began. It went bankrupt and it bankrupted me. You sit back and think ‘What can I do?’ and I said, ‘You are an actor. Go back to acting so, that’s what I did.”
As per the story, Amitabh Bachchan went over to Yash Chopra’s office, deeply in debt, and asked him for work. “Look, I don’t have a job, nobody is giving me work anymore, my movies aren’t working, and I’ve come to ask you to please give me a film to work in.” He said according to the same report.
Yash Chopra and Amitabh Bachchan had previously collaborated on several hit films like Kaala Patthar, Deewar, Silsila and Trishul which had helped to launch the latter into stardom. The director did it again when he cast Bachchan in Mohabbatein. When Chopra asked about the acting fee, Bachchan simply replied, “You gave me what I asked for back then, this time, I’ll do the film for Rs 1.” Times of India reported.
This role would go on to reestablish and completely reboot Bachchan’s career and give it second wind, essentially pulling him out of the hole he had found himself in.
The legacy of Mohabbatein
Today, Mohabbatein stands proudly in the halls of Bollywood film history. It is a foundational movie for any film lover because its impact goes way beyond just what was screened for eager audiences. It has been life-changing and impactful for so many people, but none so more than Amitabh Bachchan. After Mohabbatein, he agreed to host the Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) game show on Sony and the rest, as we know it, is history.
Mohabbatein is not only a part of the legacy that Yash Chopra left behind but also a story of hope and rebirth – a story about second chances in life. As the characters in the film were given the chance to reflect and rebuild, so was the grand old man of Bollywood in his personal life. On this occasion, one can only reflect at the marvel that human kindness can accomplish and that life is never truly over – you can always rise from the ashes as Amitabh Bachchan did.