MUMBAI: With megastar Amitabh Bachchan dominating the Hindi film industry for almost three decades, Bollywood was all gearing up to launch his son, Abhishek Bachchan in the late 90s in the best possible manner. Multiple projects were being worked upon to mark his foray into Hindi films, and one of the most exciting of them was Akhri Mughal by JP Dutta. Riding high on the success of Border, JP Dutta almost pulled off what could have been among the biggest debut for an actor. The filmmaker was planning a period film titled Akhri Mughal with Dilip Kumar as Bahadur Shah Zafar and Abhishek Bachchan as his son, Mirza Mughal. It was based on an unfinished script by Kamal Amrohi, which JP Dutta had officially acquired from the family.
The film was to mark the acting debut of Bipasha Basu as well, and the story revolved around the last of the last Mughal emperor and the fall thereon. Industry circles reveal that back in the 90s the Bachchan family was clear that the first film of Jr. B would not feature his father, Big B. And that’s the reason when JP Dutta decided to bring the king of tragedy, the Thespian, Dilip Kumar on board to play Abhishek’s father. The casting coup had got the industry circles rolling, because it would have been a life coming full circle with Dilip Kumar playing a father to both Amitabh Bachchan (In Shakti) and Abhishek Bachchan.
Akhri Mughal went on floors, with Amitabh Bachchan (as a guest of honour) himself being present on the set on first day of shoot with Abhishek, Bipasha and other members of the crew. However, after shooting for some days, the film was shelved due to reasons best known to the cast and eventually, JP Dutta decided to launch Abhishek Bachchan with another script close to his heart, Refugee. The cast also underwent a 360-degree makeover, with Kareena Kapoor coming on board as the female lead.
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CREDITS: PINKVILLA
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