46 years of Bombay To Goa: Amitabh Bachchan thanks Mehmood

Actor Amitabh Bachchan shares everything on his blog; from his musings on life to his acting process. Occasionally, the actor also shares some never-heard-before trivia from his iconic film career.

Today being the 46th anniversary of Bombay To Goa (1972), Bachchan opened up about the film's shoot and how the film eventually landed him the landmark role in Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer (1973).

Bombay To Goa is a remake of the Tamil film Madras To Pondicherry (1966). Bachchan wrote that actor-producer Mehmood cast him as the lead actor against all odds, but Bachchan never asked him why he was chosen.

Bachchan also revealed that Mehmood's nickname for him was 'Danger Diabolic'. There, too, he never asked why he thought of the odd moniker.

The Pink (2016) actor also talked of his initial problems with singing and dancing. Mehmood actually took him to the disco at Mumbai's Taj Mahal Hotel to see Bachchan in action on the dance floor. "Then once done it was the persuasion of the dance directors and tiring rehearsals in a factory floor, getting whacked by that ominous stick with each wrong move that punctuated my limited abilities," he wrote.

The song 'Dekha Na Hai Re', sung by Kishore Kumar, involved most of the cast and crew standing by the camera to shout encouragement to Bachchan while he performed.

"So generous and concerned were all of my inability, and their words and screams were there to encourage me to perform well," he said, adding that 'Danger Diabolic' was shouted at him during the shoot.

The veteran actor also shared that the plan was to shoot the entire film on road from Bombay to Goa. However, this proved to be a terrible plan.

"We set off from Mehmoodbhai’s place in Andheri, where Shopper's Stop now is, and barely moved a few yards, when the strong lights used for filming placed inside the bus, caught the roof of the vehicle and caught fire," Bachchan remembered.

Afterwards, the film was partly shot on road in Belgaum, Goa and in Madras studios. Some scenes were filmed with rear projections, making it seem like the bus was in motion.

But the biggest revelation from Bachchan's blog post was that it was a fight scene from Bombay To Goa that landed him the role of Vijay in Zanjeer.

"There was a fight sequence in a restaurant with Shatrughan [Sinha] in the film ... I was in the middle of eating a sandwich when I get hit on the face, by him. I take a tumble, get up and start fighting again, simple and done. But when Javed [Akhtar] saheb came to me to talk about Zanjeer after Dharamji and Dev Anand saheb had refused it, he gave me the reason why he thought I suited the role. He referred the film Bombay To Goa to me [and] brought me to that very fight scene in the film and said, 'After getting hit on the face and standing up again, you were still munching your sandwich.' That he said was sufficient proof to him that I was suited for the role!," Bachchan added, thanking the film and the sandwich.