Veteran screenwriter Javed Akhtar, who is known for his epic collaboration with fellow screenwriter Saleem Khan, recently stated that stars like Amitabh Bachchan cannot be created, they are born. Duo Saleem-Javed have penned some of the most iconic films of Bollywood these include Amitabh Bachchan starrer 'Zanjeer' (1973) and 'Sholay' (1975).

During his recent appearance at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival, Javed was asked whether it was characters and scripts written by him and Saleem Khan which made Amitabh Bachchan one of the biggest stars of Bollywood. He responded by saying, "As far as the ‘angry young man’ is concerned, the image, that character came through films like Zanjeer, Deewar, Trishul and all but I will not say that I have created Amitabh Bachchan. You don’t create Amitabh Bachchan, they are born and they are great because of their talent, not because somebody has created them."

Talking about Amitabh Bachchan films which turned out to be box office duds, Javed said, "Anybody who has any understanding of acting could see that he is an exceptional actor working in a wrong film. The screenplay is bad, or the direction is poor and so on… Look at the kind of performance he has given in Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay or Trishul. Who could do that?”