Baby Bachchan grows up at the movies

Caravaggio would approve. The nooks and crannies of Juhu flash by in slow-mo. The bougainvilleas burnish bright on either sides of the plush boulevards on this cruel April afternoon. Inside Abhishek Bachchan's office, which looks like a fusion of baroque and Abu Sandeep, the air-conditioned air wafts noiselessly. Biographies of Brando and Yul Brynner fill the bookshelves.Abhishek Bachchan's showbiz unfurled five years ago with his debut film Refugee. Along with spotlight, came the smirks. Amitabh Bachchan's son would deffo get things on a platinum platter. And then there were the 15 flops. Which could knock the wind out of any newbie. To add serious insult to injury, most of the reviews were biting. So the wounded actor licked his scars and bided his time. And the tide turned with Mani Ratnam's Yuva. As Lalan, junior AB scorched the screen with a feral intensity. A hitherto undiscovered sensuality was also on display. And then came the popcorn pourri, Dhoom. AB's day out. About his new found sex appeal, AB baulks, "I had so many flops, nothing I was doing was working. I didn't have any gameplan like so many others. So when Adi (Aditya Chopra) offered me Dhoom, I said yes. Beggars can't be choosers." Ergo, uncool AB suddenly became uber cool. Sarkar's director Ram Gopal Varma called him a better actor than his father. Abhishek says, "I'm sure even Ramu doesn't believe this statement. He's probably just trying to boost my morale. He's Dad's biggest fan." There is a hitherto undiscovered poise. And as always, an unstinted admiration for daddy Bachchan. Be it watching his father's implosive performance in Black or the yet to be released Sarkar. Junior recalls an incident in 1997 when Amitabh Bachchan narrated passages from his father Harvanshrai Bachchan's Madhushala at Mumbai's NGMA. The baritone held the audience in a thrall. Abhishek recalls, "My father was running a 102 degrees fever. I was dead against him going for the event. But he had made a commitment and he was going to stick to it at all cost. And then I saw how his voice despite the fever held the audience in a spell. It was a turning point for me. Dad's my best friend. Be it matters of the heart or a trouble with a scene, I'm doing, I always turn to dad. Of course, I've mom's temper." After eight years of schooling in Switzerland and a three-year course in liberal arts, majoring in drama in Boston University, he was back where he belonged. "Dad said if I wanted to be a Hindi film hero, Shakespeare wouldn't work here." All of 29, heterosexual and unattached, there's hot flotsam about Rani Mukerjee and Preity Zinta which do the fanzine rounds. He drawls in a half-baritone, "Rani and Preity are dear friends. I see them everyday. Ha! But I'm not seeing either of them. It's an absurd suggestion. I can't talk in a lax fashion about women." There are also the charges of nepotism. Veiled references were made to the Bachchan clout in the industry. No one wanted to antagonise Big daddy. A numerologist even suggested that Junior nix the Bachchan surname. Junior flashes fire, "That's the most juvenile suggestion anyone has ever made. The surname is something that my grandfather has given me. It's been earned through struggle. I won't disrespect it." He laces the conversation with a nonchalance and states, "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 sometimes unfairly compared to Amitabh Bachchan. I'm no different." He yammers about his favourite artist Caravaggio, nogs of wisdom on Arabian, techno, trance and world music are dispensed. As the impeccably mannered actor ushers me out, he hums his favourite U2 tune. Baby Bachchan has finally found what he's looking for.