‘We were small rungs in the ladder of Bachchan’s success’

Veteran star Rishi Kapoor says Amitabh Bachchan defined the ‘70s action era and actors like him were “small rungs” in the ladder of Big B’s success.

Recalling the ‘70s and 80s era, the 64-year-old actor said Bachchan’s co-stars were all just trying hard to follow in his footsteps.

“Amitabh Bachchan is the greatest actor that we have in the country. He changed the whole trend of early 70s. Action era started with him. There were a lot of actors who became jobless then,” he said.

Rishi, who worked with Bachchan in movies like Kabhi Kabhie, Naseeb, Amar Akbar Anthony and Coolie, said Bachchan should have been more forthcoming in crediting the role his co-stars played in his career.

“There would be no Sholay without Dharmendra, no Amar Akbar Anthony without Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor, no Deewar without Shashi Kapoor and no Dostana without Shatrughan Sinha,” Rishi said.

“I think we all were the small rungs in the ladder of his (Bachchan) great success because he was getting the topmost roles and we were sporting enough to work in those films.”