Amitabh Bachchan became the icon of the 'angry young man' in Indian cinema and achieved cult film status with 'Zanjeer'. However, Amitabh Bachchan was not the first choice for the role. In fact, many leading actors like Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna and Dharmendra had rejected it. Amitabh Bachchan also did not have much choice when he was offered this role.

In the early 70s, Amitabh gave many flop films, which include movies like Pyaar Ki Kahani, Reshma Aur Shera, Sanjog, Bansi Birju, Ek Nazar, Raaste Ka Patthar. At that time only one film of Amitabh, Bombay to Goa, was successful. During that time, Amitabh Bachchan was not happy, until a film completely changed his fortunes. That film was Zanjeer, which was directed by Prakash Mehra. This film, released on 11 May 1973, ended the drought in Amitabh's career.

The film Zanjeer was a superhit not only in India but also in the Soviet Union. This film earned Rs 17 crore worldwide. If reports are to be believed, Amitabh Bachchan was not the first choice for this film. Earlier Dharmendra and Mumtaz were chosen to play lead roles in this film. But later Dharmendra left this film, after which the director contacted other stars. Prakash Mehra went to Dev Anand, Raj Kumar and Dilip Kumar for Zanjeer, but everyone refused. Then later Salim-Javed duo suggested the name of Amitabh Bachchan for the film.

After Amitabh's name was finalised for this film, now it was the heroine's turn. Initially Mumtaz was cast in the film, but she left the film choosing marriage over career. Now Prakash Mehra was facing a crisis regarding heroin. At that time Jaya Bachchan was working on another project with Prakash Mehra. When the director told her about the story, she agreed to do the film.

When the shooting of Zanjeer was going on, it was being said about Amitabh Bachchan that he was a failure in the film line. At that time, Pran was a big and legendary artist, who used to charge more money for films than even Amitabh Bachchan.