51 Years of Zanjeer: A Film That Shifted Bollywood Into the Aggressive Zone and Gave Amitabh Bachchan the "Angry Young Man" Tag

51 Years of Zanjeer

Zanjeer (1973), starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri-Bachchan, and Pran, completes 51 years of its theatrical release today. Amitabh got the "angry young man" tag from this film, which he carried until Agneepath, and Zanjeer is also known as a big shift in his career before Sholay (1975).

Directed by Prakash Mehra, Zanjeer marked the first ever collaboration between the super hit Jodi of Amitabh and Salim-Javed, who later worked together for many iconic movies like Deewar,  Sholay, amongst others.Salim–Javed wrote an aggressive character for Inspector Vijay, which became rage amongst the masses. That police station scene and dialogue: "Jab tak baithane Ko Na kaha jaaye tab tak sharafat se khade raho. Yah police station hai tumhare baap ka ghar nahin" is still one of the best massy dialogues in Indian cinema and continues to reappear even today in modern masala flicks like Singham.

Zanjeer shifted gears for Bollywood cinema and brought that intensity and aggression. Before that, action masala cinema was restricted to several things, and the audience was mad about Rajesh Khanna and Dev Anand's romantic and family dramas. Amitabh Bachchan came as inspector Vijay and changed the public's perception about cop films and action movies.Speaking about box office numbers, Zanjeer was produced by five studios: Asha Studios, Chandivali Studio, Filmistan Studio, R.K. Studios, and Swati Studios, on a budget of 85-90 lacs. The film collected 3 crore nett and 6 crore gross at the Indian Box Office, emerging as a "Super Hit" and the 4th highest grossing film of the year. It was a huge success overseas, grossing over 11 crore in the Soviet Union.

Zanjeer poster

Over the years, Zanjeer has been hailed as a cult action flick in Bollywood and has been remade four times: Nippulanti Manishi (Tamil), Sirithu Vazha Vendum (Telugu), Naayattu (Malayalam), and a Hindi/Telugu remake in 2013 with the same title. "Yaari Hai Imaan Mera Yaar Meri Zindagi" is still heard by my grandfather and his friends on YouTube (from Radio, TV to now Youtube).

Looking back at this great entertainer, all I can say is that today's filmmakers have certainly forgotten how to make action-masala flicks with high repeat value. We, as modern cine viewers, cannot expect another Big B, another Salim-Javed, and another Zanjeer, but we certainly deserve better masala films than modern craps.