Ugly Bachchan - Nahta war: When leading critic told Big B, 'You don't understand a word about... Watch-

Amitabh Bachchan was the reigning superstar during the 70s and 80s. There was also a time when he had a cold war with the media and never allowed the media people to photograph him. Unlike today, when feedback about a movie makes it to the internet within hours of its release, in those days verdicts of the critics, and their reviews were considered very important by an intelligent Bollywood audience.

So when Komal Nahta, a leading trade critic of those times wrote a piece on Amitabh Bachchan ’s release Hum, the superstar got upset. Narrating the incident Komal Nahta said, “It was the time when Hum was released. Review humne accha hi diya tha. Lekin humne yeh likha tha ki jinhone bahot high terms per book ki hai film they will stand to lose. But we gave a positive review.”

During the same time, Komal Nahta had gone to Mauritius for his honeymoon, and none other than the producer of Hum- Romesh Sharma had planned its itinerary. After his return from Mauritius, Amitabh Bachchan called Komal Nahta and his father Ramraj Natha who was also a prominent film producer and critic of that time.

AB and komal rift. AB was offended over trade report
byu/Slurpmey inBollyBlindsNGossip

Komal Nahta said, “He (Amitabh Bachchan) said ki kyun aise likha. So we said that we felt that this would be the case. But hame andar malum tha ki aisa hi ho raha hai. This war was escalated by a rival magazine Trade Guide. Then we printed an article. The last line which I wrote said, “Bachchan Saab you are a great actor. Remain that. You do not understand a word about business so don’t get into our space.”

At that time Stardust, the leading film magazine of those times made a big story with the title, “The Bachchan-Nahta War.” Nahta said, “There were banners put up all over the city talking about the Bachchan-Nahta war. Stardust at the end of the 14-page article if you read it they supported us.”

Of course, later on, Bachchan and Nahta buried their hatchet and became friends again. However, it shows that if a critic remains loyal to his profession and review he can challenge even a superstar as big as Amitabh Bachchan.