‘I AM A COLLEAGUE OF A LEGEND’ Rishabh Suri
Abhishek Bachchan on completion of 20 years in Bollywood, which he calls a ‘difficult’ place; talks about whether it is tough being a son of the legendary actor, Amitabh Bachchan
He recently completed two decades of being a Bollywood actor, and has seen the film industry inside out since the time he was born to two of the most well-known actors, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan. While many would believe that this place is only about glamour and fame, Abhishek Bachchan clears the notion. “This place is not about film premieres and parties. It’s a lot of hard work. Unfortunately, our audiences only see the glamorous side of it, and very seldom get to see the hard work, blood, sweat and tears we put into it,” says the 44-year-old, who made his big screen debut in Refugee (2000).
The actor, in fact, goes on to call Bollywood “the best place on Earth”. “As far as I’m concerned, I am what I am today because of this industry, and the audiences. They have made my family, and given our family everything. That’s very sacred to me. You should come and spend time with us on set, there’s so much hard work put in. I do understand there’s this huge glamorous image,” explains Bachchan, all set to make his web debut.
The actor had recently said, and maintains, that the film industry is a “very demanding place”.
Ask him to elaborate and he candidly explains, “Because the criteria and the way you work is very difficult. Life is difficult, everybody has their own journey and battles, and this industry is no different. It’s a very competitive place, where you’ve to work very hard to earn the love and respect of the audience, and even harder to maintain it.”
With time, he has managed to create his own space with films such as Yuva (2004), Guru (2007) and Manmarziyaan (2018) among others.
However, the question does remain: Was it, or is it tough for Abhishek, being the son of a cinema legend?
He takes his time before answering this. “I’ve never thought about it,” he confesses adding, “I’m the son of my father. At home, he’s that, he has never wanted it to be anything else, my mother never allowed it to be anything else. I’m the son of my father, I’m a colleague of a legend. That’s the way I look at it.”
Elaborating on the equation he shares with his father back home, Bachchan junior says, “He never brings his work home, never imposes, what I believe as a fan rightly should be, the fact he’s a living legend of cinema. At home, he’s my friend, somebody I can sit with, watch sports or movies, discuss politics and current affairs. I think it’s very important to understand that dynamic, which I understand is very difficult to comprehend when you’re not living that and viewing it as a third person.”
However, this doesn’t mean that the actor looks at it as anything other than normal. “I’ve never looked upon it adversely. My love and respect for my parents is far too big for me to ever think to disrespect that emotion by thinking about it adversely,” he emphasises.