‘Amitabh Bachchan wanted to bring a friend to a screening, that friend was Rekha,’ says Vidhu Vinod Chopra: ‘He was angry because of the argument earlier’

In 1977, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, then an aspiring filmmaker, met Amitabh Bachchan on the sets of ‘Alaap’. Chopra screened his first film for Bachchan, who was accompanied by Rekha. Impressed, Bachchan offered Chopra a collaboration. However, Chopra chose a Doordarshan project for Rs 5,000, complete with a car, foregoing the opportunity to work with the ‘Sholay’ actor.