Did you know that Amitabh Bachchan worked for free in a film on Kandahar hijack?

'IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack' has been explored in cinema before, with one notable example being 'Kandahar', a 2010 Indian Malayalam-language war film directed by Major Ravi. The film, inspired by the December 1999 hijacking, featured Mohanlal and Amitabh Bachchan in pivotal roles.

The film marked Bachchan's debut in the Malayalam film industry, where he played a cameo of Lokanatha Sharma. In a blog post from that period, Bachchan revealed that he worked on the film without accepting a fee. He shared that Mohanlal, along with the film's director, personally visited him to offer the role and discuss the payment. However, Bachchan declined the fee, expressing that he was honored to share the screen with Mohanlal.

“They (Mohanlal and Ravi) had come over to officially sign me on and make payments etc.. Ha..!! Payments ? Fees ? Remuneration ? For a guest appearance of three days ? With Mohanlal who has always had my greatest admiration ? No way !! I don’t charge money for such acts," he wrote on his blog at the time.

Bachchan further added, “Respectfully declined their offer, gave them some home-made tea, shook hands, embraced and saw them off. It (film) will probably be shot in Ooty,the picturesque and quaint hill station in the beautiful Nilgiri Range of mountains down south".

Interestingly, Amitabh wasn't the only member of the Bachchan family to appear in a film inspired by the IC 814 hijack. Abhishek Bachchan starred in 'Zameen', a 2003 film partially based on the Kandahar hijack. 'Zameen' also marked Rohit Shetty's directorial debut.

Meanwhile, 'IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack' is directed by Anubhav Sinha and features an impressive cast, including Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Dia Mirza, and Arvind Swamy.