| Amitabh Bachchan:
There’s a great sense of ful-fillment |
“I have faith in my dad,” Abhishek Bachchan had said
almost three years ago, “No matter what the problems he will
rise above the crisis and emerge a hero like he does in his films.”
Today, the prophecy has  come
true. Bachchan has come come clear of his financial crisis, restored
his image with a television game show that has been as similated
into the culture of the country. Kaun Banega Crorepati has inspired
music albums, textbooks, movie songs, agency presentations, our
daily lingo and social conversations. Come 9 o’clock and every
home in every city
is hooked on to the magical KBC show. It’s a new phase and
a new avatar where the actor can do no wrong. I spoke to the actor
a day after the good news of the arrival of his second grand-child.
He appeared happy even if slightly pre-occupied on the sets of Karan
Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum.
Do you feel
a great responsibility off your head now that your daughter is settled
and a mother of two children?
Professional acting is all about  survival
in a make-believe world. The personalities we project often
get mistaken for our own. That’s the fallacy about it. |
I wouldn’t like to view it that way. I cannot just wish away
my responsibilities. She’s my daughter, even if she is a mother.
I worry about her. I’m anxious about her.
Would you say you’re a hyper father?
I think all parents are hyper and that’s how they should be,
for after all it’s their children they are dealing with. I’m
no different from other parents. I’m anxious about Abhishek.
I worry about him. I’m apprehensive and will always be. Just
as my father was about me and my brother. He worries about us even
now. Parents will always be parents. My mother, at 82, still wants
to know if I have eaten something and my father at 93, still cautions
me about being too late in coming back home at night.
Contrary to your father’s autobiography where in he comes across
nakedly honest, you’re seldom candid.
He’s a writer, a litterateur, a poet and if you have perhaps
read his original autobiography in Hindi, you would know that he
has quoted a famous French autobiographer, who said it was worthless
penning memoirs, if he was not completely honest. With that as his
inspiration, he set about writing his own. That is Dr Bachchan.
I’m not Dr Bachchan, I’m Amitabh Bachchan, an actor.
My honesty is through my medium and art, which is film acting. When
I write my autobiography, God forbid, I would like to imagine that
I’d borrow inspiration from my father.
After a long turbulent phase, your life suddenly seems to be on
a roll.
Well, I would put it this way that as of now my plate is full. Turbulence
or highs and lows are part of existence. Life is a challenge. Every
day is a challenge and as a human being, one tries and faces turbulence
as adequately as one can.
People who had written you off, now cannot stop singing your praises.
I haven’t encountered the negative feelings personally, so
I don’t have a right to comment on their judgements.
It must be difficult retaining your sanity during the frequently
changing equations.
nI don’t view it like that. I don’t attach too much importance
to what’s written or said about me. These are everyday occurrences.
Still creativity does suffer when the artiste is going through low
self-worth.
If the people attacking me are those who pay for my creativity,
then yes, my self-esteem is worth getting affected. The man buying
the ticket for an actor’s film has various ways of expressing
his disappointment. Through fanmail, through box-office, and most
important, through his body language, which is very revealing.
What is it about you that evokes so much cynicism?
All this while the public saw me  through
the cinema medium and made its impressions about my personality.
They related to me through my characters. KBC makes them relate
to me as an individual. |
I don’t know. I have never analysed it. I guess the media and
you are better placed to answer that. Maybe it’s because I’m
perceived as someone who has everything, even if this isn’t
a reality. I have been fortunate in some spheres and unfortunate
in many others.
What is your biggest deprivation as a public figure? Have you ever
missed walking on the streets?
I don’t call it a deprivation. I have walked on the streets
whenever I have desired. It’s just that most of the time my
desires have been restricted to the shores beyond India.
Has it been tough surviving showbiz for three decades?
I’m surprised I did. And happy. There’s a great sense
of fulfillment. It’s been a long journey. I can so easily succumb
to factors like age and repetition and get complacent. I don’t.
My attitude being that I’d rather fight than give it up.
How much do your surroundings affect you?
I would prefer to have a certain discipline and sincerity in my
work surroundings. It definitely adds to my proficiency. Good vibrations
always lead to good results.
What would you say is the most heart-breaking thing about stardom?
Difficult to describe. Cinema is a fascinating medium. There are
highs and there are lows. Professional acting is all about survival
in a make-belief world. The personalities we project often get mistaken
for our own. That’s the fallacy about it. The mistaken identity.
Yet, it’s this impersonation that attracts the hype and hysteria.
That generates admiration and fan following. I wonder who they admire
and follow, the impersonation or the man.
It must entail a lot of pressure on the actor.
Yes, because at times the impersonation doesn’t depict even
an iota of the real you. Which is sometimes a blessing in disguise
for people like me who want to fiercely guard their private life.
On the other hand, no other profession provides an opportunity for
an alternative reality.
How do you react to the media constantly referring to you as an
icon.
I feel blessed that they think of me as an icon. But I’m no
icon. I have never accepted or contributed to this image. The media
has a unique way of functioning. It will first spend a lot of time
and energy building an image. Then, it hopes and anxiously waits
for something to go wrong. When it does, it once again expends a
lot of time and energy, bringing the idol down.
The characteristic syndrome of, ‘We told you so’. It’s
a familiar pattern and has happened so many times with so many people.
That’s media business! It makes money as it builds you up and
it makes money as it brings you down. They are always in a win-win
situation.
Have you ever felt like breaking free off these shackles?
I can’t. I’m in the business of selling myself. There
are bound to be expectations, because there’s a commercial
factor involved. There’s the box-office. People are paying
money to go and see your product. If your product is not worthwhile,
they have the right to protest and reject.
When you look back on your Herculean past, would you say you have
flown with the tide or planned your actions?
I’ve flown with the tide.
Is that the right attitude?
I don’t know, but I’ve been very fortunate so far and
have no complaints to what has happened to me and my life. I think
I have got much more than I deserved and feel gracious about it.
Remember the famous poem — ‘There’s a tide in the
affairs of men...’ I have just followed that.
Bhawana Somaaya
Also see
As long as there is life there
is struggle
The common man is an extraordinary
man
I did not have my shoes on
Top
|
Cover
Story
