Mumbai. Bollywood veteran director Prakash Mehra has been given the title of Godfather of Amitabh Bachchan by fans and media. Prakash Mehra made Amitabh Bachchan a star overnight. The life of Prakash Mehra, who gave many brilliant films in his life, was no less than any film. In childhood, the shadow of parents rose from the head and Yatim Prakash Mehra came to Mumbai at the age of 15 after stealing 13 rupees from his maternal grandfather’s safe.
The journey of struggle that started after this ended on the peak of success. Prakash Mehra not only gave excellent stories for many brilliant films including Zanjeer but also changed the face of this industry. Prakash Mehra is also said to have a big hand in making Amitabh Bachchan, who is facing crisis in his career, a star. However, Prakash Mehra politely denies this. He used to say that the more talent he had, the more fame he got.
The shadow of parents arose in childhood
Born on July 13, 1939 in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh, when Prakash Mehra was 6 years old, his mother died. Just two years after this, Prakash’s father also passed away. The studies of little Prakash, who was living at his maternal grandfather’s place, also stopped after the 5th standard. But Prakash Mehra ran away from the house at the age of 15 with the pangs of dreams in his mind. Prakash Mehra’s struggle started after stealing 13 rupees from Nana’s safe and came to Mumbai. In the beginning, he spent many nights on the platform hungry and then started working in a barber shop to make ends meet. After this luck knocked on the door and got the job of serving tea in the production. While distributing tea to the stars in the studio, Prakash Mehra’s dreams also awoke. After this, worked very hard here and slowly kept moving forward.
Made a splash with the very first film
Learning the nuances of production, Prakash Mehra made the film ‘Haseena Maan Jayegi’ in the year 1968. This film has been a super hit at the box office, as well as Prakash’s career also took off. After this, Prakash Mehra made the film Mela in 1971. This film became a silver jubilee. After this Prakash’s Mehra’s name went on the tongue of the industry. In 1972, a film named Samadhi was also a super hit. Dharmendra, Jaya Bhaduri and Asha Parekh played the lead roles in this film. Amitabh Bachchan entered the life of Prakash Mehra, who earned a lot of fame by making great films in the 70s. And the pair of both not only gave excellent films but also changed the face of the industry.
Amitabh Bachchan made superstar overnight
In the 70s, Amitabh Bachchan was struggling to find success in his career. During this, Prakash Mehra met Amitabh Bachchan. Together they made a film Zanjeer. In this film released in 1973, Dharmendra was to be cast in place of Amitabh Bachchan. But fate had approved something else. The film was prepared with Amitabh Bachchan and taken out for release.
When the film premiered, the distributor refused to buy the film. After this, Prakash Mehra got the film released at his own risk by selling his wife’s jewellery. The audience did not knock in theaters for several days after its release. Disappointed by this failure, Prakash Mehra had become financially poor as well. One day Prakash was sitting at his home feeling sad, when his office bell rang. The call was from Kolkata. Here information was received about the long lines of the audience in theatres. After this the film became a super hit. Along with this, Amitabh Bachchan’s career also started touching new heights of heights after this film. Prakash Mehra was also called the godfather of Amitabh Bachchan. Prakash Mehra, who gave many excellent films in his career, died on 17 May 2009 in Mumbai.
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Tags: Bollywood news, Amitabh Bachchan
FIRST PUBLISHED : March 01, 2023, 17:30 IST
