Big Interview! Vikram Gokhale: People have seen Amitabh Bachchan's stardom, but I have seen his struggle

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Vikram Gokhale's onscreen camaraderie has won several accolades. The two legendary actors have entertained the audience together in many films like 'Agneepath', 'Khuda Gawah' 'Parwana' and many more.

Today, on the special occasion of Amitabh Bachchan's birthday, popular Marathi actor Vikram Gokhale connected with ETimes exclusively to share tales of their friendship and reveal some unknown facts about each other.

While recalling his friendship with the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, Vikram Gokhale said "Amitabh is one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. I am short of words when it comes to describing his qualities. We know each other for 55 years and all I can say is that he is a true gentleman. I think people have only seen his stardom, but I have seen his struggle. I have personally witnessed his struggle. He used to knock the door of every studio and I have seen this"

"There many people in the film industry who don't have any idea of what acting is and they call themself as an actor. It is just show off. If you want to experience real acting then people must watch Amitabh's film" Gokhale added.

How Amitabh agreed to do Marathi film 'AB Aani CD' on one phone call; Gokhale said " the makers of AB Aani CD' were aware of my friendship Amitabh and we have worked together in several films. And they wanted me to convince Amitabh to do 'AB Aani CD'. So, I spoke to Amitabh and he asked us to come on the sets of his popular Television to narrate the film. He agreed to do this Marathi film only for me and he said (Vikram, I am doing this for you). I will never this incident until the last breath of my life"

He continues..
"We informed him about the film's shoot and he was on time during the shoot. He had also carried his 20 costumes that were kept in his vanity van. He asked the team to select the ones that are apt for the shoot.


Gokhale recalls how Amitabh Bachchan helped me when I had no shelter in Mumbai. "I went through a lot of struggle when I entered this Industry. I was going through a huge financial crunch and was looking for shelter in Mumbai. When Amitabh Bachchan came to know about this, he personally wrote a letter to Manohar Joshi, who was a Chief Minister of Maharashtra during 1995-99. And I got a house from the government only because of his recommendation. I still have that letter with me which I have framed it"

"I am so proud that he knows me and I know him. We are friends from the last 55 years. I just love his attitude and nature. I still watch his films once a week and I am doing this from the past several years" Gokhale added.


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