When Vinod Khanna said, 'I was the only contender to Amitabh Bachchan'; nobody 'else'—THROWBACK

The 1970s was the decade of Amitabh Bachchan’s meteoric rise, but alongside him stood another towering figure—Vinod Khanna. With his rugged charm, effortless charisma, and screen presence that rivaled the biggest of stars, Khanna became one of the few actors who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Bachchan and, at times, even outshine him.

Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna—the rivalry that was never real

While audiences and film magazines often pitted the two against each other, both stars shared mutual admiration and camaraderie. In a 1998 interview with Anurradha Prasad, Vinod Khanna had said candidly, “I was the only contender to Amitabh Bachchan. There was nobody else.” Films like Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Hera Pheri, and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar saw the duo delivering memorable performances that fueled the myth of a rivalry.

But off-screen, their relationship was built on respect and friendship.Amitabh Bachchan once recalled in his blog how their bond deepened on the sets of Reshma Aur Shera. “The sudden passing of his father soon after our work together in Reshma Aur Shera, I being with him in his hour of grief… and then… the amazing chemistry of the several historic films that we did together, an association that was so loveable and considerate,” he wrote.

The on-screen magic

One of their most iconic clashes came in 'Amar Akbar Anthony.' As Amar, the righteous cop, Vinod Khanna faced off against Amitabh’s flamboyant Anthony. Their fight scene became legendary, not only because Amar defeated Anthony—a rare moment where a star was shown overpowering Big B—but because of how convincing Vinod made it look. “I think we both worked very cordially with each other. But, of course, we were both very different in the sense of the roles we portrayed on screen.

We complemented each other,” Vinod Khanna shared with NDTV in 2006.

Vinod Khanna walking away from stardom

By 1978, Vinod Khanna was at the peak of his career, with Stardust even proclaiming “Vinod Khanna Turns No. 1.” Yet he shocked the industry by walking away from it all to join Osho’s ashram. Reflecting later, he told India Today in 1987, “I don’t want to be number one. I don’t want to be that at all. I just want to live from moment to moment and do my work well.”It was this calm detachment from the rat race that made Vinod Khanna not just a star but an icon.