'The onus is no more on me'

"Unfortunately, I have reached a stagewhere the number of releases I have doesn''t really affect me. The onus on me, todeliver a hit, has diminished over the years," says the actor who has themaximum number of films hitting the theatre this year. With filmslike Yash Chopra''s untitled film, Kyon Ho Gaya Na, Deewar: Let''s Bring OurHeroes Home, Lakshya and the soon-to-release Dev, the 62-year-old AmitabhBachchan continues to be the busiest actor in Bollywood. When he''s not acting,Bachchan''s criss-crossing the country, attending glamourous social events. "Itis tiring," he admits. "But I have a great manager so it is easier than itsounds. As for the number of releases, my work in most films gets done in about15-20 days."In June, Big B has three back-to-back releases. The lasttime this happened was in February, when tradewallahs insist Aetbaar lost out toKhakee. Bachchan''s views on the subject differ. "I don''t believe one film ateinto the other one''s collections. Both Sholay and Jai Santoshi Maa had alsoreleased on the same day in 1975. There was obviously something wrong with oneof the films." With Dev, Bachchan dons a cop uniform for the secondtime this year. "Dev explores a cop''s relationship with another cop on a morepersonal level, in a more intense manner." From Inspector Vijay to top cop DevPratap Singh, the only difference in playing cop over the years, is in thedetailing of the uniform. "Our film makers have become more conscious aboutgetting the uniform right which is very important. Earlier filmmakers didn''tthink the viewer was intelligent enough to spot the mistakes," hesays.In his third-outing this summer — Deewar, Bachchanre-creates the horror of PoWs languishing in a Pakistani prison. "The film showswhat a PoW goes through in a hostile country. There is no deliberate attempt tosay nasty things about Pakistan," he says, when asked about the allegedPak-bashing in movie.Bachchan''s schedule is chockablock with films,ads and events, which explains his reply when asked about the plans for his 31wedding anniversary on June 3 — "I''ll be working, what else?"