Actors Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna were seen as arch rivals for a brief period in the 1970s. Rajesh had dominated the Hindi film industry with his superstardom in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, but soon after Zanjeer released in 1973, the tide started to turn in the favour of Amitabh Bachchan. While Rajesh continued to appear in hit films across the 1970s, it was becoming evident that Amitabh was now the bigger star. The two had not shared screen space since 1971’s Anand, so, when director Hrishikesh Mukherjee decided to cast the two stars alongside each other in Namak Haraam, it turned into a battle. Rajesh believed that Amitabh was poisoning the director against him and forced the director to change the climax of the film so it favoured him.Rajesh’s character died a poetic death at the end of Anand, which convinced him that a death scene leaves an impression on the audience. So, when Namak Haraam came around, Rajesh insisted that his character should be the one who dies, despite the fact that Hrishikesh Mukherjee had other plans. Gulzar, who wrote the film, was quoted as saying in Yasser Usman’s book Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India’s First Superstar, “In Namak Haraam, we had to change the end because Hrishikesh Mukherjee had promised Rajesh Khanna the death scene.”Amitabh had no clue about this agreement, and found out about it on the day of the shoot. “In Hindi films, the one who dies is considered a hero, so both were keen on being heroic. It was only on the day of the shooting that Amitabh finally learnt the truth. He was crestfallen. He was so hurt that he didn’t speak to me for several days. He felt I had betrayed him,” he shared in the same book.ALSO READ | Metro In Dino movie review: Sara Ali Khan plays a Kareena Kapoor-coded character in Anurag Basu’s annoying and exhilarating filmRajesh Khanna’s secretary and associate for 20 years, Prashant Roy, said in the book, “Those days, Kakaji used to be very angry with Amitabh Bachchan. He used to tell his close friends that Hrishikesh Mukherjee is his favourite director, but Amitabh has filled his ears. Kakaji used to say that during the entire shooting of Namak Haraam, Amitabh played dirty politics with him. During my 20 years working with Kakaji, I never saw Amitabh coming to Aashirwaad. Earlier, Hrishikesh Mukherjee used to come quite often, but after Namak Haraam, even his visits were rare,” he said.Rajesh and Amitabh never shared the screen again. Rajesh passed away at 69 in 2012.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