David Dhawan & Amitabh Bachchan Movies Together List — 4 Films

The shape of the work

The 1990s account for 75% of everything they made together. The 1990s belonged to Aankhen; the 2000s to Hum Kisise Kum Nahin. David Dhawan directed every film; Amitabh Bachchan acted in all of them. Strictly Hindi cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• David Dhawan was still finding his footing as a director when he cast Amitabh Bachchan in Aankhen (1993). The film was a gamble — Bachchan was coming off a rough patch at the box office, and Dhawan had only made two films before this. But Dhawan bet on Bachchan's star power, and the film became a hit, giving both a much-needed win.
• In Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998), David Dhawan leaned hard into Amitabh Bachchan's comic timing — something few directors had done before. Dhawan let Bachchan play a double role, one goofy and one straight, and the film's best scenes come from Bachchan riffing off himself. Dhawan later said he just had to point the camera and let Bachchan run.
• Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (2002) was the last time David Dhawan and Amitabh Bachchan worked together. The film flopped hard — 4.6/10 on IMDb — and effectively ended their partnership. No director has since paired Bachchan with Dhawan's signature slapstick style, making this trio of films a closed chapter in Bollywood comedy history.
• David Dhawan has said in interviews that Amitabh Bachchan never once complained about the chaotic, loud sets of his comedies. While other actors found Dhawan's style exhausting, Bachchan treated every take with the same seriousness he'd give a drama. Dhawan called him 'the most disciplined actor I ever worked with.'
• David Dhawan once said about Amitabh Bachchan: 'He can make you laugh without moving a muscle. I just had to give him a silly line, and he'd turn it into gold.' He said this in a 2018 interview with Filmfare, reflecting on their three films together.