Did you know Amitabh Bachchan asked 'Mrityudaata' director for work amid ABCL bankruptcy?

Amitabh Bachchan approached director Mehul Kumar for work during a difficult phase in his career. In the 1990s, as he struggled to transition from lead roles to supporting ones, Bachchan invested significant time and resources into launching his ambitious Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd. venture. The same year as the release of 'Mrityudaata' in 1997, ABCL attracted negative press due to unpaid dues following the Miss World pageant it organized. Kumar recalled this period when he worked with Bachchan on the film.

During this time, Amitabh Bachchan asked Mehul Kumar at a party if he had any ‘garma-garam’ scripts. Talking to Friday Talkies YouTube channel, the filmmaker remembered, “It was at the Rangeela music launch, Amit ji was there as well. He met me and asked, ‘Sir, aapke paas koi garma-garam hai?‘ I asked, ‘For whom?’ He replied, ‘For me, who else?’ He wasn’t doing films at the time, and I told him that I had something for him. The next day I get a call from his office, following up on his request. We arranged a meeting, and I narrated the film to him. He liked it, and said that he was going to do it.”

He continued, “We completed the film in six months. It was Amit ji’s comeback film, and I’m proud to have directed it. I also directed Raaj Kumar’s comeback film.”

The well-known story of Yash Chopra being approached by Amitabh Bachchan for work came after the bankruptcy of ABCL, which left Amitabh facing humiliation. In 2016 at India Today Unforgettables stage, the actor recalled that he had a huge financial failure. The corporation he started went bankrupt and so did he. The actor thought, ‘What can I do?’ and decided to return to acting. He went to Yash and said he needed a job. This led to his role in 'Mohabbatein.'