Yash Chopra revealed Amitabh Bachchan’s reaction on casting Jaya Bachchan and Rekha for Silsila: ‘He took a long pause…’

Yash Chopra is known to get the iconic trio – Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Rekha together for the 1981 classic ‘Silsila‘. Somehow, the film did not manage to do well at the box office at that point in time. But then, over the years, it has turned out to be a cult. In a conversation, the late film-maker had revealed Big B’s reaction on the casting he had in mind. For those not in the know, initially Smita Patil and Parveen Babi were cast for the film.
The casting coup
It was nothing short of a casting coup which Chopra pulled off with ‘Silsila’. The film-maker had revealed these details in a conversation with Shah Rukh Khan once, “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 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.”
Chopra had warned both Jaya Bachchan and Rekha, ‘koi gadbadi na ho.’
Haven’t shared screen space since ‘Silsila’
Several reports suggested that Jaya Bachchan had said yes to the film because of the ending where Amitabh Bachchan’s character chooses to stay with his wife. After ‘Silsila’, Rekha and Bachchan have never shared screen space together.