Yash Chopra shared how Amitabh Bachchan reacted to casting of Jaya Bachchan, Rekha together in Silsila: 'He took a long...'

The rumored love triangle between Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, and Rekha is still one of Bollywood’s most talked-about controversies. Even today, whenever something new surfaces about the three stars, fans show great interest in revisiting their history. 

Yash Chopra once shared an interesting story about casting for his 1981 film Silsila. At first, he had planned to cast Smita Patil and Parveen Babi. But later, he brought together Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, and Rekha for the movie, an iconic trio that grabbed everyone’s attention.

Even though Silsila didn’t do well when it first released, it slowly gained a strong fan following and is now considered a cult classic. Yash Chopra also mentioned how Amitabh reacted when he heard about the new casting choice.

Yash Chopra once shared with Shah Rukh Khan that casting Silsila turned out to be a major turning point. He had originally signed Smita Patil for Jaya Bachchan’s role and Parveen Babi for Rekha’s part. Both actresses were all set to begin shooting. But things changed when Chopra met Amitabh Bachchan and discussed his vision for the film, which eventually led to casting Amitabh, Jaya, and Rekha together, making it one of the boldest casting decisions in Bollywood history.

He said, "I had signed both Smita Patil and Parveen Babi, and both of them were to start shooting. Smita was to do the role played by Jaya Bachchan and Parveen that of Rekha. I went to meet Amitji and spoke to him about the film.”

He further added, "It was Amitji who asked me if I was happy… content with the casting (Smita Patil, Parveen Babi and Amitabh Bachchan) and do I feel it is the ideal casting. I told him I wanted to cast him, Jayaji, and Rekha. He took a long pause and told me that he was fine with the decision but asked me to convince the two actresses.”

According to several reports, Jaya Bachchan agreed to do Silsila mainly because the story ends with Amitabh Bachchan’s character choosing to stay with his wife. After the release of the film, Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan were never seen together on screen again.