When Vinod Khanna said he was the only 'contender' to Amitabh Bachchan, said, "Nobody else came close..."

When Vinod Khanna said he was the only 'contender' to Amitabh Bachchan, said, "Nobody else came close..."

The 1970s was dominated by Amitabh Bachchan’s rise as the “angry young man” of Indian cinema, but standing tall beside him was another powerhouse. Vinod Khanna. With his rugged screen presence and understated magnetism, Khanna was one of the rare actors who could share the frame with Bachchan and command equal attention.

A rivalry born in public, not in spirit

Fans and film magazines loved to compare the two. On-screen, their collaborations in Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Hera Pheri, and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar became milestones of Hindi cinema. Yet off-screen, the supposed rivalry was more myth than truth. In a 1998 interview with Anurradha Prasad, Vinod Khanna spoke with characteristic candor: “I was the only contender to Amitabh Bachchan. There was nobody else.”

That statement wasn’t arrogance, it was fact. By the mid-70s, Khanna had evolved from a supporting actor into a full-fledged star, often cast alongside Bachchan without being overshadowed. Their dynamic worked precisely because they were different. As Khanna told NDTV in 2006, “We both worked very cordially with each other. But, of course, we were both very different in the sense of the roles we portrayed on screen. We complemented each other.”

The camaraderie behind the competition

Amitabh Bachchan later wrote about their bond in his blog, recalling how grief and shared work forged a friendship. “The sudden passing of his father soon after our work together in Reshma Aur Shera, I being with him in his hour of grief… and then the amazing chemistry of the several historic films that we did together, an association that was so loveable and considerate,” Bachchan noted.

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Their onscreen clash in Amar Akbar Anthony remains iconic. As Amar, the upright cop, Vinod Khanna faced off against Bachchan’s charming rogue Anthony. It was one of the few scenes where Bachchan’s character was physically overpowered, and audiences loved it.

When stardom lost its pull

By 1978, Khanna had everything, box office clout, critical acclaim, and public adoration. Stardust magazine even declared, “Vinod Khanna Turns No. 1.” But just as he reached the top, he walked away from it all, leaving the industry to join Osho’s ashram. Reflecting years later, he told India Today, “I don’t want to be number one. I don’t want to be that at all. I just want to live from moment to moment and do my work well.”