Milind Gunaji got ‘scared’ after turning down Amitabh Bachchan’s Mrityudaata, went to meet him: ‘He started laughing’

Milind Gunaji recalls the time he couldn’t work with Amitabh Bachchan. (Pic: IMDB, Big B/Instagram)

Actor Milind Gunaji, renowned for his impactful negative and supportive roles in Hindi cinema, recently revealed a missed opportunity to collaborate with Amitabh Bachchan in the 1972 film Mrityudaata due to scheduling conflicts.

While Milind expressed acceptance of losing this chance to work with the legendary actor, he encountered the challenge of addressing rumours suggesting he intentionally declined the role opposite Bachchan.

Speaking on Rajshri Unplugged, Milind explained why he lost out on the opportunity to work with Big B. He said, “I was suppose to play the role of main villain in Amitabh Bachchan’s film Mrityudaata. There was some problem with my dates, I might be working on Virasat or some other film.

So, I could not do the film Mrityudaata and I told the same to the film’s director Mehul Kumar. I said, ‘It’s a great opportunity to work with Amitabh Bachchan but I can’t do it.” After that everything was resolved peacefully.

Then it started coming in the media that ‘A newcomer like Milind Gunaji refused to work with superstar Amitabh Bachchan.’ I was like, ‘What’s going on? I never refused to do the film. There were date issues.’ I got scared and asked my secretary to schedule a meeting with Big B. I didn’t want to upset him.’

Sharing how he addressed the situation with Amitabh Bachchan, Milind recounted, “Big B was shooting for a song at Mehboob Studio. I parked my car outside the studio and waited for him outside his van. He came and asked me, ‘What happened?’ I clarified my side to him, saying that I didn’t refuse to do the film. There were date issues. He started laughing and said, ‘You don’t worry about it. Don’t pay much attention to these things. Keep up the good work that you are doing.’ He closed this chapter there and then.”

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On the professional front, Milind Gunaji was last seen in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and HIT: The First Case. He also appeared in Ajay Devgn’s OTT series Rudra: The Edge Of Darkness.