Writer Salim Khan recalled that the script of 'Zanjeer' landed with Amitabh Bachchan after it got rejected by Dharmendra, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar. He shared that he had requested Jaya Bachchan to star in it. "When I narrated the story...[Jaya] said that she doesn't have much to do...I said, 'Yes, you don't...but it can change Amitabh's career'," he revealed.