Amitabh Bachchan & Amjad Khan Movies Together List — 12 Films

The shape of the work

The 1980s account for 83% of everything they made together. The 1970s belonged to Mr. Natwarlal; the 1980s to Kaalia. Amitabh Bachchan acted in every film; Amjad Khan acted in all of them. Strictly Hindi cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• They first faced off in Mr. Natwarlal (1979), but the real spark came when Amjad Khan insisted on playing the villain Gabbar Singh in Sholay — a role that made him a legend. Amitabh later said that without Amjad's Gabbar, his own angry young man persona wouldn't have had the perfect foil.
• In Kaalia (1981), their blockbuster, Amitabh and Amjad built a rhythm where Amitabh's rage was always a beat behind Amjad's cold, mocking laughter. Amjad would slow down his dialogue delivery, forcing Amitabh to react with raw, delayed fury — that tension made the film a hit.
• Their 1981 film Laawaris launched the iconic song 'Mere Angne Mein' — but more importantly, it cemented the 'lost-and-found' family drama template that Bollywood would milk for the next decade. Every film where a poor son discovers his rich father owes a debt to this pairing.
• Off-screen, they were close friends who called each other 'Bachchan' and 'Khan' with genuine warmth. On the sets of Naseeb (1981), Amjad would often crack up mid-scene because Amitabh would deliberately mess up his lines to make him laugh — and the director kept those takes.
• Amitabh once said about Amjad: 'He was the only actor who could make me forget my lines. I'd be so caught up watching him perform that I'd miss my cue.' He said this in a 1982 interview with Stardust magazine.
• In Mahaan (1983), their last film together, they played triple roles each — a gimmick that could have been a mess. But they used it to mirror each other's mannerisms: Amitabh's comic timing in one role would set up Amjad's menacing turn in another, making the chaos feel choreographed.