READY TO GET BACK TO WORK, SAYS ABHISHEK
Abhishek Bachchan, raring to go after recovering from Covid-19, feels industry will see change
After spending close to a month in an isolation ward for Covid-19 treatment, on August 8, actor Abhishek Bachchan announced he’d tested negative. He was soon discharged and even attended the engagement ceremony of filmmaker JP Dutta’s daughter Nidhi, a few days ago.
Talking about his frame of mind post Covid-19, Bachchan says, “I am fine, thank you for asking. Ready to get back to work!” In July, Abhishek and most of his family — his father, actor Amitabh Bachchan, wife, actor Aishwarya Rai and daughter Aaradhya — were diagnosed with Covid-19. Ask how he kept his spirits up in that difficult time and he replies, “The love, affection, concern and prayers of our family, friends and well wishers (helped). (I) listened to the medical staff, tried to be a good patient.”
Days before he tested positive for Covid-19, his web debut, Breathe Into The Shadows, had dropped and was well-received by audiences. “The response has been overwhelming. More than what I expected. We always work hard and then pray that the audience likes your work. The team of Breathe believed in the director Mayank Sharma’s vision, and we had a good script, but eventually the audience decides. That’s why I say we hoped for the best,” says an “overjoyed” Bachchan, adding, “I’m so humbled and thankful to the audiences and the entire team. Playing a negative role is very tough. First, because the negativity doesn’t come naturally to me, so you need to put in that much more work to make it look convincing. As actors, you need to go out more on a limb when playing a character like that, so I feel it’s tougher.”
With a number of films releasing on OTT, including his upcoming film, The Big Bull, he feels while the box-office barometer might be absent, actors will still be required to deliver “in terms of performance”. As for change, he says, “One possible change, and dare I say a good one, could be that it would lay more importance on whether the actor is suited for the role. But there are many films we make that require a ‘star’ to be in them.”
A part of the industry for 20 years, Bachchan asserts he speaks from experience. “Contrary to popular belief, commercial film acting is not easy at all. To convincingly do some things ‘commercial cinema’ demands is immensely challenging. But, now without the box-office barometer, directors and producers will possibly cast a film on its requirements in terms of casting. An actor’s life will still be decided every Friday. They will still be required to deliver — either at the box-office or in terms of performance. At the end of the day, the audience will still decide and they are the final word!” he signs off.
Contrary to popular belief, commercial film acting isn’t easy. ABHISHEK BACHCHAN, Actor