He gets hospitalised and the whole nation gets upset about it. His fan-following needs no substantiation and can be registered in the Guinness Book of World Records. At 64,
Amitabh Bachchan is undoubtedly the biggest superstar and still the most modest celebrity one can come across. In an exclusive conversation with IndiaFM a few days before his current ailment, Big B talks about doing movies as a sexagenarian. We wish him a real speedy recovery.
Make us more familiar with the stranger of Ek Ajnabee. Tell us something about the character you play. I play an ex-army commando who is now leading a retired life. His friend is Arjun Rampal, another ex-commando. They were colleagues in the army. Arjun is stationed in Bangkok. He invites my character Suryaveer Singh to Bangkok and wants him to take up a job. The job is to act as a bodyguard to an affluent family. The couple has a little daughter. A lot of people do not know, but it is presumed that kidnapping is a much larger business than even drugs, in today's world. It is very rampant in the area where they are staying. So Suryaveer comes to protect this child.
What made you take on this role? At age 64, you do not get many such opportunities to play the central character in a film. I'm thankful to people who want to take up that challenge and risk. Then of course, there is the fact that is going to be shot from start to finish. Apoorva Lakhia is family to me. He is very close to Abhishek. Abhishek did his first directorial venture, Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost. I liked his work. He is modern, aggressive and impatient to prove himself. This film gave me the opportunity to work with someone my son's age. I had seen Apoorva work in Boom. He was first assistant director to Kaizad. I though he was very organized and brought in new principles and ideas in production and film making technologies. These ideas were brought into practice even here. I have been through the film making of the late 60s. At that time, having a call sheet was unheard of. On this set, everything was organized down to precise things like what time the actors will sit for make up, what time they will be on set, knowing the exact shots, camera angles and dialogues. It makes life so much easier being a part of this professional and organized unit.
Like you said earlier, in India it is very rare that films are written for 60 + actors as the central characters. Do you think you are changing the trend? I think you would be able to assess that, better.
Amongst all your recent releases, you have the slickest look in Ek Ajnabee. What do you think about the way in which director Apoorva Lakhia has presented your character and the film? I can't really say about myself. If it's appealing to you and the audience, I will say thank you!
Which is your favourite scene in the film?My character comes from a very traumatic past. A few incidents keep haunting him. They keep coming back to him in his moments of solitude. There is one moment where he is overtaken by his trauma. I thought that it was an interesting scene. He's also almost becomes an alcoholic. So here he is all by himself and really tense. Because of the excessive alcohol, he is almost in a stupor. He goes through an entire gamut of emotions from self-destruction, to laughing and weeping at life, at the same time. It is a very brilliantly executed scene by the camera department and Apoorva. I liked the whole concept of how it was shot, edited and put together.
You play an action role after a short gap. How does it feel to play the angry man again?At 64, you can't move the same way that you could in your 20s. A lot of stuff is done on wires today. If the scene involves a lot of running and physical activity, I have some restraints owing to my physicality.
Earlier this year you worked with child artist Ayesha Kapoor. And now it's Rucha Vaidya. How does it feel working with these tiny talents?Rucha is an amazing actress. Children are very normal. They're gifted and casual. They don't come under any class of training, which is so wonderful. It is also frightening to work with children because they can surprise you. You have to be on your guard! Most of the time, they are making all the mistakes and they are right. It was fun. Rucha is definitely a natural actress.
You're doing KBC once again and are also doing so many ads. Are you worried about over exposure?At 64, you are worried about exposure, not about over exposure!
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