The Hindu : New Delhi News : Some shadows and a starry tale

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Saturday, Sep 08, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Some shadows and a starry tale

Madhur Tankha

In conversation: Abhishek Bachchan

NEW DELHI: He may have given more than a dozen flops at the box office, but Abhishek Bachchan has now become one of Bollywood’s most celebrated actors. In the show ‘Talk Asia’ on CNN this Saturday, Abhishek tells host Anjali Rao about his favourite role on the big screen. “More than being an actor, being my father’s son has been my favourite role. I enjoy the fact that I’m his son. I enjoy the responsibility he gives me. And most of all I enjoy being his bouncer. I enjoy Sundays when hundreds of his fans come outside the gate of the house to meet him. It is a trend that started after his 1982 accident…And it’s what I call his Lion King moment. He holds me up and says, ‘here’s the cub’!”

Giving his first in-depth interview to an international news channel since his high-profile marriage with actress Aishwarya Rai, the bright young actor says: “It’s a continuing honeymoon you could say and it feels very nice. I love being on the sets together all day and then going back home together. Because being actors we both know there’s going to be a time ahead where we’re not going to see each other for months. So you try and enjoy every moment of it.”

Despite being born into Bollywood royalty, Abhishek recalls the experience of first appearing in more than a dozen flops, enduring heavy criticism before finally celebrating his first box office hit with ‘Dhoom’.

Reliving the remarkable moment of his career when Uday Chopra told him that ‘Dhoom’ was his first hit, Bachchan nostalgically recalls: “I went out into his garden and started screaming, shouting and jumping up and down for about half an hour. I couldn’t believe it, I was in shock. And then I remember calling my sister and telling her that it’s a hit. And I was just so overcome by emotion.”

About Hollywood, Abhishek says Indian actors are often not interested in roles offered to them. He says he has no desire to play a ‘hot dog vendor’, and Bollywood provides a good challenging environment for an actor.

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