By: Entertainment DeskMumbai | December 6, 2025 04:03 PM IST 4 min readAmitabh Bachchan faced a massive financial crisis in the late 90s. (Photo: Express Archive)The 1990s was a tough time for Amitabh Bachchan as his production company, ABCL, went bankrupt, and he faced a massive financial crisis, with debts mounting over Rs 90 crore. During this time, he was largely written off, and the future seemed uncertain. But, like a true superstar, he made a remarkable comeback with films like Mohabbatein, and more importantly, he began a new innings on television with Kaun Banega Crorepati.Amidst all this, there was also a film called Ek Rishta, which proved helpful during this financial crunch. It marked the first time he worked with Akshay Kumar. In a recent interview with Bollywood Thikana, the director and producer of the film, Suneel Darshan, opened up about how Amitabh got involved in the project. He said he hadn’t even considered the legend when thinking about casting someone to play Akshay’s father and was leaning towards actors like Anupam Kher. But it was then that he got a call from Amitabh, who himself asked him if he could do the film.“I was driving and I got a call, and I picked it up and realised it was Amit Ji’s voice. I thought somebody is joking with me. And then I quickly parked the car on the side. He said on the call, ‘Main Amitabh bol raha hoon,’ and he discussed the probability of working on this film (Ek Rishta). And I said, ‘Yes sir, of course,’ and asked, ‘Can I come and see you?’ Soon, the meeting was set up, and I went to meet him.”Suneel also reflected on the difficult time Amitabh was going through. “He was going through a very difficult phase at that time because of everything that went down with ABCL. But look at the man’s determination. He is a legend, and nobody can attain such a status. And he is a wonderful person to work with. Every moment I worked with him, I saw the human behind the superstar we know.”Discussing Amitabh’s punctuality, commitment, and discipline, Darshan added how the superstar worked overtime, often doing two shifts a day to complete the film. “He was so cooperative. Juhi Chawla had gotten pregnant. In that case, we were looking to either postpone the schedule of the film by one year or prepone it by four months, before her pregnancy started showing. So Amit Ji said, ‘Don’t postpone, but prepone, because my dates are locked with Karan Johar for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.’ He said he was shooting for that film from 9 to 6, so he suggested he would come to our set by 7 pm and work till 2 am with us.”Also Read | Shah Rukh Khan was up all night for King promo, came up with ‘only one King’ line 2 days before revealHe further added, “He was 58 by then, and he came every day. I didn’t have an iota of a problem with him.” Darshan also spoke about Akshay, who had lost his father around that time, and how that experience impacted his performance in Ek Rishta. “Akshay’s father had passed away just two months before the release of Janwar. So that trauma, seeing his father unwell, somehow seeped into the film.”Story continues below this adEk Rishtaa released in 2001. Akshay and Amitabh later worked together in Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s Waqt.Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd