Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan take direction from Hrishikesh Mukherjee on the sets of their 1973 blockbuster Namak Haraam

Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan take direction from Hrishikesh Mukherjee on the sets of their 1973 blockbuster Namak Haraam.And by Khannas expression,this must have been a real eye popper of a scene in discussion.Immortalised on reel by ace lensman Shyam Aurangabadkar,this picture brings back memories of the good old 70s when printed shirts made from the same fabric worn by two actors were a popular fad.Remember how Amitabh and Dhramendra in the song Sa Re Ga Ma from Chupke Chupke,also directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee,wore the same shirt In this picture however,Amitabh shares the shirt chemistry with his costar Rajesh Khanna.After a striking onscreen shared by the actors in the 1972 Hrishikesh Mukherjee film Anand,they were brought together once again by the director to essay the roles of the two friends Somu and Vicky in Namak Haraam.Ironically,in real life,they were far from being friends.Rajesh Khanna who had ruled the silver screen till Bachchan came on the scene had major ego clashes with the younger star.They later went on to have a cold war that ran over decades until a couple of years back,while presenting the lifetime achievement award to Khanna at an award function overseas,Bachchan mentioned that the term superstar was originally coined for Rajesh Khanna.
In the picture,however,all seems to be well between the two actors.While Bachchan is busy concentrating on what Hrishikesh Mukherjee is saying,Khanna seems to be shocked with something on the other side.Or perhaps it was the scene that got his eyes popping out.Well never know.