25 Years Of Major Saab: How Amitabh Bachchan cleverly addressed criticism over inauthenticity from army officers: “Should I make a film about gunrunning in the forward posts, the extramarital affairs?” 25 : Bollywood News

The action entertainer, Major Saab (1998), completed 25 years earlier this year, on June 25. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn and Sonali Bendre, it was directed by Tinnu Anand and was a decent success at the box office. As the film completes its 25th anniversary, we bring to you an interesting trivia about the movie, as mentioned in the book ‘Maximum City’ written by Suketu Mehta.

25 Years Of Major Saab: How Amitabh Bachchan cleverly addressed criticism over inauthenticity from army officers: “Should I make a film about gunrunning in the forward posts, the extramarital affairs?”

The author spent considerable time with Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It was a time when the acclaimed filmmaker was planning Mission Kashmir (2000) and was trying to cast Amitabh Bachchan for the role which was eventually played by Sanjay Dutt. Major Saab had already released and when the topic of censorship and controversy cropped up, Big B told Vidhu and Suketu Mehta that one shouldn't be bothered about it.

Amitabh Bachchan, Suketu Mehta wrote, proved his point by narrating what happened at the National Defence Academy where he screened Major Saab, which was produced by his banner, AB Corp Ltd. Big B played an academy commander in the movie and probably, that's why a screening was organized for the army officers.

These officers complained that certain scenes in the film were not true to life. They further added that those sequences can cause problems for the makers at the censors.

Suketu Mehta stated in the book that at this, Amitabh Bachchan retorted, "‘Ban it’, I said to them, ‘and I’ll make a film about what really goes on in the army: the gunrunning in the forward posts, the extramarital affairs’."

Suketu Mehta then wrote, “The officers backed down and said, 'Let’s talk about this over some drinks'. Amitabh Bachchan had won a true hero’s victory; he took on the army single-handed, and the army gave in.”

Also Read: 25 Years of Major Saab: ‘Sona Sona’ was originally meant for Lal Badshah; Vashu Bhagnani came to Amitabh Bachchan’s rescue; helped designed the film’s attractive hoardings in the quickest time possible