Let us tell you that actor Dharmendra was first finalized for the lead role in Zanjeer. But his brother Ajit had a dispute with Prakash Mehra, due to which Dharmendra refused to do this film.
After Dharmendra, this film was offered to Dilip Kumar, but he felt that there was nothing special in this character, due to which people would not like him and this was the reason why Dilip Kumar also refused to do Zanjeer.
After this Prakash Mehra talked to Dev Anand for this role. But when Dev Anand came to know about this character, he felt that he did not fit the role, for which he asked to make some changes in the film and include romantic songs, but perhaps Prakash Mehra did not want to do so. Because of this, he could not talk to Dev Anand also.