CHHOTE SARKAR

Overnight, Baby Bachchan has become Busy B. Blame it on Bunty Aur Babli. Some critics call it Bunty aur bullshit, others say the film rocks. But the box-office doesn’t equivocate.
It’s a certified hit. And so is Abhishek Bachchan. Like Bachchan Sr, Abhishek’s spiel too is carefully spliced with self-editing. So, he won’t discuss the rumours of dating Dipannita Sharma, Nandita Mahtani, Rani Mukerjee or Preity Zinta.
Straight off then, I ask him if his character in Bunty Aur Babli was anarchic and almost glamorised.
He drawls, B&B was a fun road movie, escapist cinema at its best. Anarchic is too strong a word.
I think Bunty and Babli were misguided and whatever they did, they did innocently. And for sure, they always had the intention to straighten up their acts. Adi (Chopra) approached me to do the film.
Hrithik was supposed to do it, but for some reason, he couldn’t. As for me, beggars can’t be choosers, so when Aditya Chopra offered me Dhoom and Bunty Aur Babli, I just said ‘yes’.” But now we are getting ahead of the story.
A quick flashback. Abhishek’s initial career was made in potboiler hell. Fifteen flops to count. Bad films, bad clothes and teakwood feet.
Every Friday was a trial by fire. The criticism stung, but AB’s baby looks back with affection. “I never looked at reviews as a personal onslaught. Some film reviewers may not be cinema literate, but they had an opinion, which I respected.
So if someone said that I was a bad actor or danced badly or wore terrible clothes, I took their criticism as food for thought and improved myself,” he says.
Thus spake the politically correct Abhishek. Daddy’s nogs of wisdom: Respect your work and always work hard. Mum’s word: Follow your instincts. Trust what your heart says and do it. And within this Bachchan crucible of legend, myths and great acting, Abhishek cut his showbiz teeth.
He says, “Dad said when you come to showbiz, you’re on with the mask 24/7. You have to maintain your dignity and decorum. It’s public domain, so if you behave irresponsibly, you have to face the consequences.”
Fortuitously, he isn’t a paparazzi basher. “No one uses a zoom lens to shoot me while I’m taking a shower or chases me on helicopters while I’m on holiday. I think the Indian media is very friendly, they have a job to do,” he states, adding, “I’ve known many journalists since the beginning of my career and there’s a relationship I have with them. They know where to draw the line always. I’ve seriously no complaints,” he remarks.
Bachchan Jr earned his career spurs with his edgy turn in Mani Ratnam’s Yuva, Revathy’s Phir Milenge and the box-office jujube, Dhoom. But, the evermodest Abhishek veers the conversation towards his father and says, “I just saw Sarkar. For me, it’s a toss-up between Black and Sarkar among my all-time favourites. Dad’s just too good, man! I told myself, ‘Abhishek, don’t even bother. You have some zillion light years to go before you come even anywhere close to Mr Bachchan’. Dad’s God in Sarkar.
There was my big scene where I was getting into an emotional lather, raving. My father, on the other hand, was just quiet, looking at me. He gave me one look. And that killed me. I couldn’t take my eyes off him in that scene.”
On the one hand, Amitabh Bachchan says, “Abhishek is taking baby steps, but he’s definitely shown a great improvement since Refugee and his other earlier movies.” On the other hand, motormouth Ram Gopal Varma maintains, “Abhishek is truly a better actor than his father.”
So, what does Abhishek really believe? He replies, “I’m perhaps the only star son whose father hasn’t launched him in his debut. And hello, why should I fight my genes? Every actor in the country is unfairly compared to Amitabh Bachchan. I’m no different. I’m not fighting the comparisons at all.”
Whilst on his favourite topic, that of Amitabh Bachchan’s, Abhishek talks about the trying times that the family went through, like the tragedy on the sets of Coolie and the Bofors imbroglio. “I was too young, maybe six, to understand the ramifications of dad’s accident. To me, the trip from our home in Juhu to the Breach Candy Hospital seemed like a joyride. I was more grown up when the Bofors controversy happened.
I saw dad go through it all with dignity. Much later, when I was at Aiglon College in Switzerland, I felt there was a crisis in our company, ABCL, and dad needed me. So I came away. I know this sounds terribly mushy, but if God’s my friend, dad’s my best friend,” he states simply.
What about the wonderful Jaya Bachchan? After all, he’s inherited his mercurial genes from her. “Mom was one of the screen’s most spontaneous actors. Some actors work so hard at being spontaneous that it shows on screen.
But, mum was a natural. I’ve always been more emotional about mom on screen. I didn’t want to share her with anyone. I could relate to dad as Vijay in Deewaar or Agneepath, as I was his fan, but not to mom as Jennifer in Kal Ho Naa Ho.
She was only mine. Having said that, when I saw the terrific chemistry between my parents in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, I wondered why they hadn’t worked together for 18 years,” says Abhishek indulgently.
Abhishek baulks at his new-found ‘item boy’ sexappeal, I had so many flops and nothing I was doing was working. I didn’t have any game plan.
The One Love song for Rakht was accidental. I love Anna (Suniel Shetty). And I did it for him. I hated my look and fought with the dress designer, choreographer and hair stylist. And if anyone thinks I’m sexy, they seriously need to have their heads examined.”
The 29-year-old may beg off marriage and girls right now, but the heat is on. B&B isn’t just a potboiler road movie, it stands for Baby Bachchan, who’s a big boy now