“Who said I am a superstar or a megastar? You are calling me that!”
- AMITABH BACHCHAN INTERVIEW

Bollywood’s living legend Amitabh Bachchan remains one of the most popular faces in Indian cinema. Filmmakers are fully aware that securing Amitabh Bachchan’s name in their cast list ensures better terms amongst distributors, simply because his fan following remains strong. However many industry critics have started discussing an obvious overkill of the Big B recently. After a constant stream of releases, which have faired badly at the box office, not to mention extra exposure in adverts…is the Amitabh Bachchan brand new destroying itself? Radio Sargam talks to the man himself!

After a huge number of releases, the audience will watch even more of you in the near future. Please tell us about the forthcoming film Hum Kaun Hai (or Ora Kara in Bengali)?
“The film is a supernatural thriller. Its about a man who goes to fight the war. He comes back and finds out that everything has changed. People in his house too have changed. There is some kind of a problem“.

You are being reunited with two veteran co-stars, Dharmendra and Dimple Kapadia, for the film. How does that feel?
“Dharam and I are great friends. Times may have changed but our relationship stays the same. We may have developed wrinkles but we are still close friends. Our wives have also worked together. Jaya and Hema too are friends. I have worked recently with Hema too. So in that sense, we share a great bond.”

How was it to do a Bengali film?
“Wonderful. I had to dub my lines as well but I think the language is great. As such, I get to hear a lot of Bengali wear words at home, because my wife keeps scolding me (laughs). Seriously, I do understand Bengali, but haven’t spoken much.”

Didn’t you try learning it during your theatre days in Bengal?
“I was working in a company which had a lot of mills. So, it was important for me to interact with the workers and hence I had to learn Bengali. My company also paid me a handsome amount of Rs 3000 in those days to learn Bengali. I did try with gusto also because it was a big amount for me. My salary in those days was just Rs 450. I did pocket the money, but the language was not something that I picked up too well.”

Tell us more about Ora Kara?
“Sorry, you have to understand that the essence of a thriller is the story. If I tell you everything now, there would be nothing left for the people to see.”

Do you believe in the supernatural yourself?
“I can’t answer that question. I wouldn’t want to do that.”

Coming to your deluge of releases… how it feel to be watching himself repeatedly in innumerable films?
“I know I know… I am having releases week after week. Tell me what can I do about it? I tried my best but the releases of the movies are not in my hands. I am a mere actor. I am not the producer who can understand the enormity of the situation. I am really sorry if that is disturbing you or the audience.”

How does it feel to be so busy?
“I know that I am really busy with work. But that is something that I am doing for personal reasons. I have a lot of work in my hands, I am doing many films and many ads, but that emanates from a need for me and my company.”

Your busyness has also affected your company’s business. Home production Ranveer has been held back.
“Abhishek Bachchan is also acting in Ranveer directed by Raj Kumar Santoshi. And we are not free together for a while that we can start shooting. Some work is also taking place on the script front“.

You have started work on Mahesh Manjrekar’s Virudh which shall also star Sharmila Tagore and her pretty daughter Soha. What went wrong with Saif, he was to be in the film as well.
“Discussions were on with Saif, but things didn’t work out accordingly“.

How do you manage so many films?
“I am not the central character in a movie anymore. I am more of a character actor. Agreed that once in a while I get longer roles. I was lucky to have a much longer role in Dev, as cinema is about younger people. It is for people like Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Kareena Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta and Aishwarya Rai. They are the leading stars. I am more of a character actor. I am not the leading man anymore. You don’t get films like Dev and Baghbaan too often at this age. I reiterate that I am lucky to have got such roles.”

How does it feel to be a megastar to still be noticed in character roles?
“Who said I am a superstar or a megastar? You are calling me that!”

Why so much humility?
“There is nothing like humility. That’s the way I am.”

But why don’t you accept that you are a megastar?
“I am not. That’s why!”

Come on… what will you call a man who commands his price today at age 62? What will you call a man whom people don’t mind seeing in films even today after over three and a half decades of seeing him.
“That is the love of the people. I cannot be called a superstar. Even you said that I am 62 years old. The younger lot of people are the real stars. They sell. I don’t.”

I don’t think, you will ever agree. Okay, how do you manage such energy levels?
“I have always worked hard. It is just that I have more work now. And the films are releasing one after the other that it shows. When I was playing the hero in those days, I needed to shoot a lot for a film. These days I am not a hero. So I don’t need to shoot as much as the other actors. So there are more releases. There is nothing about energy here.”

You have always stayed away from politics, but wife Jaya now has entered it by virtue of being Rajya Sabha member from the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. You ran away form politics after being an MP. Your wife has now gone where you didn’t want to. Did you speak to her about this?
“Well, it just shows that it is her rule that takes place in the house. On a serious note, it is her decision to enter it. I am no one to do so. She is an independent person and has all the rights in the world to do what she wants in a democratic country. I have maintained that I shall have nothing to do with politics and that’s how I shall remain. Her decision is hers.”

By Qamar Zaman