It was June 30, 2000. The young Bachchan scion was awaiting the release of his debut film Refugee , and was possibly, a bundle of nerves having not just a legendary father Amitabh Bachchan to match up to but also create a space of his own in the Hindi film industry.
Cut to a decade later: June 18, 2010. Abhishek Bachchan will celebrate a decade in the industry with the release of Mani Ratnam's Raavan . The nerves are showing no signs of existence as he has much more on his mind. Back from Istanbul after wrapping up the shoot of Abhinay Deo's Game , Abhishek is busy with the promotion of Raavan . “I am very happy that Mani's film is marking my decade in the industry,” says Abhishek.
Written off after a spate of flops, Abhishek made a tremendous comeback and has rewritten the rules of the game in his favour. “It's an industry that teaches you a lot,” he says, adding, “I have learnt that you can swim against the tide and survive. I am a living example of that. When most actors were busy building their six-packs, I was slapping on 20 kilos for Guru , which went on to become my most career-defining film. I have learnt that there are no formulae, no rules. Acting is an art and it has to be instinctive.”
And it is by instinct that he chooses his roles. “I have also learnt that if you tell a story from the heart, it's going to work. I have learnt it the hard way. In some of my earlier films, I tried doing what was ‘required' even though deep down in my heart I did not want to and the results were out there. If your heart says this is right and the film turns out badly at the box office, you can still be content that you followed your instincts,” he confesses.
He loved playing Beera, his character in Raavan . “I don't think I will ever get to play anything like Beera again; in fact, not many actors will ever get to play anything like him. It's one of those roles you don't let go of,” he says. Ask him why the ace director always seems to cast him in grey roles, and the reply is prompt: “Every human being is grey. I can't think of characters that are all good or all bad. It gives more dimensions to them and makes them tactile.”
Mani Ratnam has been largely responsible for the turnaround in Abhishek's career. In 2003, after a dozen odd films ranging from flops to average hits, Mani gave him his most powerful role then — that of Lallan Singh in Yuva , which also starred Ajay Devgn and Vivek Oberoi. The Bachchan charisma made its mark and stood out in the movie. Dhoom, Bunty Aur Babli, Bluffmaster, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Guru, Sarkar Raj, Dostana, Paa
Talking about Mani Ratnam, Abhishek says that he is not just a director but a dear friend off the sets. “But on the sets, he is my guru. It is an invaluable experience to learn from his very presence, so obviously I am always looking for more work with him. The thing about Mani's films is that once you've signed one you have to understand that it's going to be no walk in the park. He takes you to unknown destinations and gets you to shoot in the most taxing circumstances, and asks for your inputs too. He is not a binding director. Even when we did Yuva , he asked me for inputs. He is always on the lookout for growth and improvement.”
He reveals that on the sets of Raavan , Mani's dinner time conversation would ultimately veer towards the film and he'd ask if a certain shot was done well. “We'd be thinking he's the guy who's supposed to know. But that's the style of this man. He okays a shot saying it was fantastic then makes you shoot for one more time asking you to make it dramatically different from the previous one. He wants the actor's interpretation to be part of the film.”
Abhishek seems to be taking great pains to build an eclectic repertoire. “I'd be terribly bored to get up each morning and go to the sets to do the same thing. It's an effort to do as different films as Dostana , Delhi 6 , Paa and Raavan at the same time, and if you feel I am doing unique films then it has paid off. If I do the same thing thinking I know what the audience wants, then I am wrong. We actors like to be in a comfort zone. I'd hate to do that. I like to be insecure about my craft, getting up each day and feeling as if it is my first and wondering how I'd tackle a certain scene. The day I get up feeling I know this like the back of my hand, I am finished,” he sums up.
