After Dilip saab, second man who came was Amitabh Bachchan, says Javed Akhtar

New Delhi, August 30

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan is a brilliant actor who in his heyday churned out more hit films in a year than screen icon Dilip Kumar, veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar said on Thursday.

Javed Akhtar, along with writing partner Salim Khan, gave Bachchan his much needed breakthrough in the film industry with 1973's action crime film "Zanjeer", which gave birth to the 'Angry Young Man' phenomenon.

The writer, who has done around 14 films with Bachchan including "Sholay", "Don", "Deewar", and "Amar Akbar Anthony", praised the superstar for his work ethic.

"He is exceptionally good, we have to accept it. He is a brilliant actor. After Dilip saab, the second man who came was Amitabh Bachchan. His turnover was much more than him (Kumar). Dilip saab used to do one film in two years, he (Bachchan) gave seven superhits in a year alone...

"We backed him, he gave us a great performance... He had tremendous discipline and focus. (He had) Total control over his tongue, he would never make a statement which could be controversial in so many years. Seven o' clock shift would mean, he would be there quarter to seven in spite of being a star," Javed Akhtar said at an event.

He was speaking at the third edition of the Indian Express' six-part series Expresso, held in Mumbai. He was also joined by his daughter, filmmaker Zoya Akhtar.

The 79-year-old said, as Salim-Javed, he and his writing collaborator were intelligent enough to recognise Bachchan's acting abilities.

"I never had any complaint from him that he didn't say the dialogues well. At times, I'm thankful for him saying the lines as he did because he added that (emotion) to them that wasn't there on paper. We were intelligent and sharp enough to see that there is great talent..." he added.

Like 1975's "Deewar", which explored the anger and dissatisfaction of the masses with the then government, is there any film that reflects what's going on in India now?

In his reply to the question, Javed Akhtar said: "If you show what is going on (in the country), the picture will be banned." Zoya Akhtar, on the other hand, thought hard and said "I guess, there's a disconnect." Referring to the enduring resonance of the iconic dialogue "Mere paas maa hai" from "Deewar", Javed Akhtar said society tends to put "so much premium" on mothers so that they can misbehave with other women.

"In any society where there is a lot of premium on mothers, it means women are in a bad shape. They are in trouble. 'Maa ki pooja hone chahiye (We should worship mothers).' "But what about the women you don't worship, which also coincidentally includes your wife? People should respect my mom but what about the mother of my kids? This is all rubbish," he said.

Zoya Akhtar, who serves as an executive producer on "Angry Young Men", a docuseries on Salim-Javed, was asked why did the Prime Video project not show the writing partners sitting together.

"It was a directorial choice," she said, adding series director Namrata Rao would be in a better position to answer the question.

The event was moderated by Anant Goenka, executive director, The Indian Express Group and Head of New Media at The Indian Express along with Pratap Bhanu Mehta, columnist and contributing editor at The Indian Express.