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MUMBAI:
Bollywood's 'crown prince', Abhishek Bachchan, first referred to
as nothing more than a shadow of his legendary father, is now one
of India's most celebrated and sought after actors. On this week's
TALK ASIA, Bachchan walks host Anjali Rao around the set of his
new film 'Sarkar Raj' talking about the different roles he now plays
as actor, son and husband. He candidly exposes what it takes to
succeed in one of the largest film industries in the world and to
carve a name for himself given the number of actors in the industry
with famous backgrounds.
Working
alongside equally well-known wife and one of the world's most beautiful
women Aishwarya Rai, Bachchan comments, "It's a continued honeymoon
you could say and it feels very nice. I love being on set together
all day and then going back home together. Because being actors
we both know there's going to be time ahead where we're not going
to see each other for months. So you try and enjoy every moment
of it." Considering the couple goes home after work, Rao queries
whether the couple has ever argued on set, Bachchan smiles and says,
"Exactly, I like sleeping on the bed as opposed to the couch,
so…"
 Despite
growing up in a family of elite stars, Abhishek Bachchan was not
born with a silver spoon on one's mouth. He worked every inch of
the way to get to where he is today. As he chats to Anjali Rao on
the star-studded set in Mumbai, Bachchan explains, "At the
end of the day it's got to do with luck. That's one thing you learn
very quickly in the Indian film industry. I can think of a hundred
more talented actors than me, better looking, better built, more
capable, but at the end of the day you realize very soon that it
comes down to luck. At the end of the day it all depends on the
mood of that one audience member that goes into that theatre. They're
not burdened with the baggage that you bring onto the film. It just
depends whether the film manages to entertain them or not. And if
it doesn't, that's it…So I've been blessed, yes, I consider
myself very lucky."
Having
starred in more than thirty movies, Bachchan's answer to his favourite
role comes as a surprise, "More than being an actor, being
my father's son has been my favourite role. I enjoy the fact that
I'm his son. I enjoy the responsibility he gives me. And most of
all I enjoy being his bouncer. I enjoy that on Sundays hundreds
of his fans come outside the gate of the house to meet him which
is a trend that started after his '82 accident…And it's what
I call his Lion King moment. He holds me up and says, here's the
cub."
Reliving
the remarkable moment of his career when Uday Chopra told him that
Dhoom was his first hit, Bachchan nostalgically says, "I went
out into his garden and started screaming, shouting and jumping
up and down for about half an hour. I couldn't believe it, I was
in shock. And then I remember calling my sister and telling her
that it's a hit. And I was just so overcome by emotion because at
that point in time, after 17 films, you have no self confidence
left, and you've really put in your heart and soul into work, at
that point you're ready to accept it as a failure, because that's
what you're tuned to. So it was very emotional for me."
Bachchan
shares his view on the Indian film industry, "We like larger
than life films. We're that kind of people. We're very warm, we're
very festive, we're musical, we're over the top, and that's the
way we like it. People snicker sometimes and can't believe why we
have so many songs in our films. It's because we're a musical culture.
If something happens in the family that is nice, we break into song."
Talking about the lessons that film industry's taught him, he says,
"As an actor, you have to realize it's not about you, it was
never about you. It's about the film."
On
his forthcoming movies, he chats at length on working with his better
half Aishwarya Rai and his upcoming tour to thirty different cities
that takes him, his wife, Amitabh Bachchan, and Akshay Kumar to
his fans around the world.
Airtimes:
Indian Standard Time
Saturday,
September 8 at 05:00 hrs, 20:30 hrs
Sunday, September 9 at 18:30 hrs
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