He enters the room sharp at the scheduled interview time, which reflects his work ethic. Perhaps, that could also be one of the important factors, apart from honing his craft, that helped him survive in the industry for 25 years, amidst tough times, failures, cut-throat competition, and constant judgements. In a blue hoodie with a cap and ripped denims, Abhishek Bachchan settles down as we begin talking. His new look that he’s hiding with the cap, is perhaps for ‘King’ with Shah Rukh Khan. But, of course, we are just guessing that, as he keeps his lips sealed. This rare sit-down, old-school chat in this digital age, took me back to the early 2000s when he made his debut. Bachchan opens up on his journey, shares fun anecdotes about some of his movies, talks about comparisons with other actors, how he’s changed from a boy to a man, his current state of being, and much more, in this all-heart chat!
Part – 1 of the interview
Let’s start with something that’s the most striking about you at the moment – the variety in your choices. From ‘Ghoomer’ to ‘I Want To Talk’, ‘Be Happy’, ‘Housefull 4’ and now ‘Kaalidhar Laapata’…
That’s also a bit of the requirement of an actor, right? You’re an actor. You’re not meant to just do one role. You’re meant to be, you have to be able to sell to the audience a variety of different things. You’re acting. So whether you’re doing a ‘Housefull 5’ or ‘I Want to Talk’ or a ‘Be happy’ or a ‘Kalidhar Laapata’, or a ‘Guru’ or ‘Manmarziyan’ or a ‘Bol Bachchan’, it’s your job to convince them that you’re able to do it. So, on some level that’s not a very big deal. It’s what you’re meant to be doing. I don’t I don’t know where I stand on that whole discussion of oh look at this actor look at the range and all that all actors are meant to have range. Robert Downey Jr. does a Chaplin and he does ‘Iron Man’. Marlin Brando does ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘The Island of Dr Moreau’. Amitabh Bachchan does ‘Black’ and does ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’. Is that always what you’ve strived for, because, even from 2004 to 2007, there were a range of movies from ‘Yuva’, to ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ to ‘Sarkar’ to ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’ and then ‘Guru’?
Is that always what you’ve strived for, because, even from 2004 to 2007, there was a range of movies from ‘Yuva’, to ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ to ‘Sarkar’ to ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’ and then ‘Guru’?
That excites me. That’s the kind of actor I am. I think I consider myself lucky if a Bunty or Bubbly appeals to me and a Sarkar. They were shot simultaneously. Actors are meant to have variety, if the director is convinced in your ability, you are meant to be able to pull off any kind of role. I feel lucky to get the opportunity to do that. I understand some actors don’t want to do it and that’s understandable and fair. But I feel lucky if people think I’m capable enough to do an ‘I Want To Talk’ and ‘Housefull 5’.
Despite, the variety of performances, do you think it has taken people a while to wake up to the actor you are or perhaps realise your potential?
Really? I don’t think so.
And why would you say that?
I’ve been around evidently for the past 25 years. But I don’t want to say this in a pompous manner at all but if I’m here 25 years later we’re still having an interview, means you find me worthy of speaking to, means I’ve done something right. There’s absolutely no way any actor can stick around for so long if they’re not worth their salt. And it doesn’t matter what family connections they have or anything. People who don’t believe in that, accept it because that’s the truth. You have to be thankful that the audience loves you and wants to give you the opportunity to work and entertain them. That’s a blessing and you have to hold that very dear.
Talking about 25 years in the movies which makes the crux of this chat, I recently saw seeing ‘Aisa Lagta Hai’ song from ‘Refugee ‘. One doesn’t see debutants so subtle yet impactful with their expressions today as perhaps you and Kareena Kapoor were…
Oh, that song is beautiful. It’s my favourite song from the album (smiles wide). I can’t take credit for it. ‘Refugee’ had nothing to do with me. It was JP Saab all the way. He was the grand puppet master and we were just doing exactly. He took such good care of us. So I cannot take credit. Whatever performance in ‘Refugee’ is entirely due to JP sir. The other part I think has to do more with sensibility.
Sensibility? Go on…
Maybe my sensibility is different from say another person, Mr X for example. Their sensibility could be such that they feel when they hear a scene, this is how I would perform. And that makes it their unique approach to that scene. My approach to the same scene may be the complete opposite, but equally convincing. That’s for the director to decide which voice, which version they prefer. Every actor is very unique in their way. They bring a certain sensibility and a certain performance of what comes naturally to them. There are times when you have to work outside of that. But your instinct is such. So maybe my instinct was just that at that point in time. I’m guessing, I’m not too sure.
In 2000, ‘Refugee’ and ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’ had released in the same year. I remember you and Hrithik Roshan being pitted against each other. The way Hrithik and his debut film were packaged as opposed to how ‘Refugee’ was at its core; didn’t you ever feel insecure as a newcomer?
We would be pitted against each other right? I mean, we debuted in the same year. But no, as a newcomer, I was never ever insecure. I never thought of it like that because I never looked upon anybody as my competition and I don’t mean that arrogantly. I mean it from a sense of, I can’t do what you do and you can’t do what I do because this is me physically. You can’t compare artists somewhere I feel that goes against artistry. See, who you prefer is different. That’s your choice. I’ll give you an example from art.
Please do.
In Indian art, we have two wonderful Indian painters, some of my favourites include Subhash Awchat and Paresh Maity. I love both of their works. Who’s the better painter? You can’t say it. It’s subjective. You can choose who appeals better to you but you can’t say this guy is better than the other. You shouldn’t say it for actors either. What I’m saying is, it’s very unfair and wrong to say that about an artist. Oh, he’s better. You can say, ‘Oh I prefer him.’ But you can’t say, ‘Oh he’s better.’ You know Ramu (Ram Gopal Varma) told me something. We were shooting for ‘Sarkar’. It happened funnily because there was an award function which I wanted to go to. I was nominated. I think I was nominated for Yuva and I wanted to go but I was shooting. Then, Ramu told me, ‘I don’t believe in awards and all’. I said why? Because in those days awards were a really big thing. Sadly today it’s just fallen off, and it’s sad because today we don’t have anything genuine that celebrates our work. I said ‘I want to go because I have a good chance to win.’ He said, ‘But why does that validate you?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He asked me, ‘Who are the other people nominated for best supporting actor?’ I said, ‘so and so..’. He quipped, ‘They’ve done other roles. When you give a school exam everybody writes the same paper and you’re judged on that. So, over here all of you do Lallan Singh from Yuva and then we’ll see who’s better.’ I said, ‘Wow’. So, for me, I feel, we should say who we prefer as an actor. We can’t ever say who’s a better actor. Having said that…
Go on…
Hrithik is a great actor and a friend. I’m genuinely immensely happy for all that he’s achieved and continues to achieve. But more than that, I love the person that he is. And so there’s never been any animosity to any of my colleagues. I genuinely want them to do well. I want my colleagues, and my co-stars to be so good. Because that is a constant inspiration for me. It makes you aspire to, ‘Oh that person is doing such a good job. I should also work hard.’
One has never seen you talk negatively about anyone in the industry right?
It’s partially because I don’t think it’s my business to talk about it publicly. But also I genuinely want the best for you. I do! I genuinely do. If I like somebody’s work, I will call them out of the blue or send them a message saying ‘Hey, I really like this and all the best and keep fighting the good fight. I keep writing that it’s so nice you want your colleagues to know that they are doing good work. It feels good to me when some of my colleagues text me to appreciate my work. It’s good. We are an artistic community.
You just spoke about ‘Yuva’ and how you were nominated. It reminds me of Lallan. While he was a negative character, but had this childlike innocence. Was the character written that way or did you bring that quality to the table?
The first time you are working with the great Mani Ratnam you don’t say anything. But, Mani involved me so deeply in Lallan, in the preparation of Lallan, and allowed me to have an opinion on him. He heard me very sweetly, he didn’t need to. I thought Lallan was the sweetest character, you feel for that guy. There was this one scene in ‘Yuva’ which sadly never made it to the final cut, which I thought was very important, wherein, he’s had a huge fight with Rani (Mukerji), his wife, and she’s like, why can’t you change? He’s lying down on the bed and she is sitting next to him. He is on her lap and he is howling. Because she has caught him going back to what he was doing and she’s trying to bring a reform to him. So, she asks him, ‘Why can’t you change?’ And there was a line that Anurag (Kashyap) had written, which just summed it up for me. I felt so bad when I read that. Lallan says, ‘I am trying, lekin suvar goo khana chhodta nahi hai (A pig never stops eating shit or being around shit).” I felt so bad when I read that. He said, I’m trying but I don’t know anything else. So I always found him the most lovable character. He dances the way he wants. He’s uninhibited. He’s demonstrative, if he loves something he’ll say it. If he likes his wife, he’ll just pick her up in the middle of the crowd. If he doesn’t like you, he won’t talk to you. So, I found him so real and vulnerable.
Talking of vulnerability, is it still difficult for you to cry on-screen while being in character? You’ve done that in many movies.
That’s very difficult. It’s one of my biggest challenges. I’ve always said this. The true greatness of an actor is. We always break character when we run, when we dance, when we scream in anger or cry because there are such raw emotions, you do that as yourself, you never do it as the character. That’s why for me, getting the look of the character is very important, and once you get the look of the character then the walk of the character and the gait of the character. So if you see Bob’s (Bob Biswas) walk is different from my walk in The Big Bull, it’s different from Gangaram Choudhury in ‘Dasvi’. But when I run I’ll probably run the same way. That’s why I’m trying to run differently for my characters now.
Does it happen sometimes that you’re trying really to stay true to a character but sometimes, the formulaic route or the idea of ‘what may work’ contaminates you?
Meaning? Give me an example.
For example, I feel maybe that in the song ‘Dil Laga’ from ‘Dhoom 2’, your character Jai Dixit shouldn’t have danced maybe?
You know, I had a huge fight with Adi (Aditya Chopra) on that. My fight with Adi was that scene with Hrithik and me in the bar and we flip the coin. We say, kal dekhenge, aaj raat dhoom machale. The song starts. I said throughout the song I just want to be at the bar, just going to be clocking Aryan with his attitude like, ‘I’ve given you tonight, you have fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ But Adi was adamant. We had a huge fight on it. He said no, the audience wants to see all the cast dance. I agree with you, that he shouldn’t have danced. Jai Dixit doesn’t dance for anyone, he dances for his wife. That’s what I used to love about Jai. He is this ‘hard as nail’ cop outside, with a no-nonsense attitude. But with his wife, he is completely opposite. He is petrified of her.In the first scene, his wife comes to drop him and he’s sitting behind on a scooter while everyone else is scared of him and she tells him, ‘I want machhi and he’s like yeah okay baby I’ll get it for you.’ His wife is the only person who’s got him wrapped around and I loved that dichotomy about him.But, these are small things that happen. At the end of the day, the film did really well, so you also have to accept that maybe you don’t know everything. ‘Dhoom’ is also not just this character-driven piece. It’s a popcorn film. So, I think the justification was there. Don’t use your brain too much (Laughs).
Shouldn’t Jai and Ali have their spin-off movie perhaps?
A lot of please laugh when I say this but please try and understand the way I see it. ‘Dhoom’ is the adventures of Jai and Ali. The villain has to be unsurmountable otherwise there’s no fun. Every villain in any say for example superhero film has to seem like ‘Oh this time you will not be able to catch them, but then he does catch eventually. So, for me, ‘Dhoom’ is the ‘Adventures Of Jai and Ali’.
Do you believe there was a time before ‘Manmarziyan’ when you had gotten slightly complacent in your work, and it was quite evident on screen?
Absolutely. I was very comfortable. I was getting great work, I was getting great money, and the films were all doing well. You can make out when you sleepwalking through films. And I told myself, it was noticeable to me but before the audience starts noticing it, it’s time to wake up.
When did that wake-up call happen?
It happened gradually, it wasn’t something that just happened at the snap of a moment.
