‘Mr India' was originally conceived for Amitabh Bachchan and not Anil Kapoor, says Javed Akhtar: ‘If this voice is so popular, so effective'

Time of India

10-05-2025

Anil Kapoor
's 'Mr India' was one of the most popular movies of the actor. Over the years, it has remained iconic as it was way ahead of its time. Every song, the concept and Kapoor's performance continues to be spoken about, till date. But did you know that the film was originally conceived for
Amitabh Bachchan
after getting inspired by his baritone voice by writer duo Salim Javed (
Salim Khan
,
Javed Akhtar
).
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In a recent interview, Javed Akhtar revealed how exactly the concept was developed but things didn't work out as Salim and Javed split. Later, Akhtar developed the script of 'Mr India', all by himself. He said, 'He had to do the mahurat, and because of some reason, they recorded the voice of Amitabh and played it during the muhurat shot. So, that gave me an idea — if this voice is so popular, so effective, why can't we make the Invisible Man with him? We wouldn't have to take his dates also. Most of the time, we could shoot and he would later dub his voice… That is how the idea started.'
He further revealed that the children's angle was added as kids would be fascinated with the idea of an invisible man. When Javed developed the final draft, entire screenplay, dialogue alone after his split with Salim Khan, he did not find anyone who was ready to believe in the script and produce the film. Akhtar said, 'I developed it completely on my own, wrote the screenplay, dialogue. People were like, 'Arey invisible man… arey ye effect… yeh iss tarah ki films thodi chalti hai… it's a gimmick… woh thodi hit hoti hai… pehli bani Mr X,
Ashok Kumar
was the hero… then Mr X in Bombay… itna badi hit nahi hoti aisi films.'' (People said, 'Oh, invisible man… these kinds of effects… these kinds of films don't usually work, it's a gimmick… they get a little popular, that's it… there was Mr. X with Ashok Kumar, then Mr. X in Bombay, films like these never become major hits).'
Boney Kapoor
eventually decided to produce it as he liked the concept and wanted to make a film for his younger brother and a big actress like
Sridevi
.
Regarding Bachchan's presence in the film, a while ago, in a book by Diptakirti Chaudhuri, titled 'Written by Salim-Javed: The Story of Hindi Cinema's Greatest Screenwriters', she had revealed that during a chat with journalist Anita Padhye, Salim Khan had said, that Amitabh Bachchan believed that this concept of invisible man wouldn't work as fans come to see him in theatres. However, the writers believed that Bachchan's voice would be the star of the film.