When newly-engaged Neetu Kapoor cried on Yaarana sets and Amitabh Bachchan came to her rescue

Neetu Kapoor had once opened up about her experience of working with Amitabh Bachchan in Yaarana. The movie featured the hit song Sara Zamana Haseeno Ka Deewana, in which Amitabh wore the iconic bulb-studded black leather jacket. It was shot in Kolkata. 

While the video featured Neetu and Amitabh, she once revealed she cut short her stay and headed back to Mumbai because she didn't want to be away from Rishi Kapoor, to whom she was engaged at the time. 

“I remember we were in Calcutta shooting for that stage song in a stadium (Yaarana). We were sitting together, and I was crying, tears rolling down my cheeks. I had just got engaged and I didn't want to be away from Chintu (Rishi Kapoor). The phones in Calcutta weren't working. And Chintu was upset that he couldn't get through to me. Amit asked me why I was crying. I said, ‘I want to go back.’ He replied, ‘You will,’” she told Rediff, in an old interview. 

“He called the producer, asked him to book my ticket back to Bombay, and said they'd manage the song without me. They did. You will notice I am there for half the song and then I disappear,” she added. 

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Although Neetu and Amitabh's on-screen collaboration came to a standstill after she took a backseat from films, he worked with Rishi on a few more occasions. They were last seen in 102 Not Out. When Rishi died in April 2020, an emotional Amitabh tweeted, “He’s GONE... ! Rishi Kapoor... gone... just passed away... I am destroyed!” Amitabh also penned a post on Instagram, fondly remembering Rishi a day after his death. 

On Monday, Amitabh turned 79. The actor received birthday wishes from many, including his son Abhishek Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Anushka Sharma, and Prabhas.