Abhishek Bachchan has particular protocol for bringing in all his birthdays. Says the actor, “For me the best way of celebrating is to work. A birthday is a birthday. I like to spend my birthday with my family if I can. But it wouldn’t be a happy birthday for me if I’m not working.”
This has been the birthday routine for Abhishek since his debut. “Every year since I started my career in 1998, I’ve made sure that I’m shooting. I remember I was shooting with J P Dutta Saab on my 23rd birthday. The only year I missed shooting on my birthday was the year when I was in New York promoting Delhi 6. I hope to continue working on all my birthdays.”
The first time I spoke to Abhishek was also the first time he spoke to the press. “You’re the one person Dad asked me to speak to,” he told me . There was no trace of nervousness in his voice, no tentativeness and certainly no fear of the unknown.
This was a week before the release of J.P. Dutta’s Refugee. Much water has flown under the bridge since then. Abhishek and I share a very special bond. Chronologically I come right in the middle of Abhishek and his Dad. So I am able to share a warm bonding with both.
Abhishek is hard to beat in arguments. He talks you down with such intense velocity that you are left looking helplessly around for help. The last time it happened I looked pleadingly at his Dad for help. AB sr smiled and shrugged, like a referee who had left the fighters to their own devices.
Here’s the test for how much Abhishek cares for you. If he takes you on verbally any time any where, he ‘s a buddy. The gentler side is kept for critical occasions. I remember being stuck in my hotel room with a sozzled, badly behaved enfant-terrible actor who refused to leave. I had met Abhishek in the lobby of the hotel earlier in the evening.
“Help me!” I had SMS-ed from my room to Abhishek down below. Within seconds, Abhishek rescued me from my misery by calling up the sozzled superstar, and sat with him in the hotel’s coffee shop till the wee hours of the morning, hearing the blather of an inebriated brat. To this day, I wonder if Abhishek endured that night’s verbal assault only because of me? This young scion of the Bachchan household does go out on his limb. Extremely attuned to the other person’s sensitivities Abhishek outwardly seems to be constantly sardonic.
His sensitive side isn’t there for everyone to see. I’ve seen him at the start of his career being pushed around and ridiculed by selfstyled movie critics who predicted Abhishek would never make it.
He held his his own admirably. But sometimes the hurt and confusion of trying to live up to his parents’ reputation shone through.
As the flops poured out Abhishek once told me, “ I think people are very confused about what they want from me.. It’s a two-way sword which will hang on my head for the rest of my life. I think it will take time for people to understand what I am all about and what they want from me. In the meanwhile I’ll just carry on doing what I want to do and what I believe in doing. If I falter ,then there’s no point in being an actor. Sometimes I feel people don’t understand what I’m doing on screen.”
And yet there have been numerous instances when Abhishek has simply nailed it on screen. In his debut film Refugee (2000): Under the tutelage and guidance of the mighty J P Dutta, Abhishek immersed into the character of the Indian guide who navigates illegal immigrants across the border. Though Kareena Kapoor grabbed all the attention, Abhishek was an understated volcano of seething anger, quite like his dad in Saat Hindustani.
Refugee
Says Abhishek, “I still haven’t forgotten a single moment of my debut film. I owe my career to J P Dutt Saab.”
In Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai (2001) : Playing a smalltown boy from Uttar Pradesh who gets in wrong company in Mumbai, Abhishek exuded a vulnerability and innocence that came naturally to him. This was the first of his several successful collaborations with Rani Mukerji.
Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai
Says Abhishek, “This was directed by my dear friend Goldie Behl. We were both new and trying to find our bearings. This was my second intense experience in a row at the start of my career. I enjoyed working with Mr Jackie Shroff who played my mentor.”
Naach (2004) is one of Ram Gopal Varma’s most underrated films. It was an intense romantic drama about the dancer and the muse with a tightly-wound intensely felt performance by Junior Bachchan. If only RGV had not gotten carried away with his obsession with the film’s leading lady Antara Mali! (Wonder what happened to her).
Naach
Says Abhishek, “I thoroughly enjoyed working with Ramu in the two Sarkar films. Funny , you pick Naach which no one even remembers today. Yeah, that was a very passionate film with some very unusual choreography.”
Many including me, consider Yuva to be Abhishek’s finest performance to date. Playing the Bihari goon on hire Lallan Singh, Abhishek mastered the body and spoken language of the Bihari hoodlum. This was another outstanding collaboration with Rani.
Yuva
Says Abhishek, “My wife had already worked with Mani Ratnam. But for me Yuva was the first time. Mani entrusted me with a role most directors would have thought I was too raw to play. I think this is one of my best performances.”
Bunty Aur Babli (2005) was Hum Aapke Hain…Con! Playing the con-man to Rani Mukherji’s con-woman, this was the ultimate con caper and the only time director Shaad Ali got it right, apart from Saathiya.
Says Abhishek, “I remember you had dropped in on the sets on my birthday with a cake when we were shooting the sing Kajra re with my father and future wife (Aishwarya). Who was to know that Kajra Re would turn out to be such a chartbuster, the most successful song of my career, and Ash’s. This film was special because I teamed up with Pa (dad Amitabh Bachchan) and we did not play father and son.”
Mani Ratnam’s Guru (2007) was based on the life and aspirations of the legendary entrepreneur Dhirubhai Ambani .Abhishek played the tycoon with a rags-to-riches fervor. He went through the various phase in Dhirubhai’s life mastering the real character’s aging process with admirable precision.
Guru
Recalls Abhishek, “This is another character very close to my heart. I poured my heart and soul into it. It was a responsibility that I had to fulfil.”
In R Balki’s Paa (2009): Playing his own father’s father! Abhishek says the audacity of the idea drove him into pushing the boundaries of his abilities. “I realized my father had the toughest role in Paa. For me to have him playing my son was an idea that just didn’t enter my comfort zone. I give all the credit for carrying off the reversed role to our director Balki.”
In Bob Biswas (2022) with that affable angelic semi-smile and eyes that never tell lies, Bob Biswas, as played by Abhishek Bachchan in one of his finest performances, looks like anything but an assassin. Abhishek Bachchan with his bewildered expression and bemused responses to the world around him, is the pitch-perfect Bob Biswas. Murderously innocent , hopelessly lost in a Kolkata he abandoned many years ago. Now he reclaims a city , a life and a family that have moved on. With tragic consequences.
In Tushar Joshi’s Dasvi, Abhishek Bachchan, in a career-defining performance, plays Gangaram Choudhary, the Chief Minister of an imaginary North Indian state that looks suspiciously like Haryana. Abhishek’s behaviour onscreen suggests he plays a younger more effervescent and reformative version of Om Prakash Chautala. His accent is spot-on and his body-language suggests an arrogant ownership of the space that he claims as though by birthright.
I’ve seen Abhishek go through the worst emotional hurt of his life. Not that he ever speaks too much about his personal life. But during that time I saw his raw hurt. It was a heartbreaking moment. And I wondered when he’d get out of it. But Abhishek snapped out of his pain before friends had the chance to get overly concerned.
Today, Abhishek is mature, mellow and married, sharing shoes and success with his iconic dad. The prolonged period of struggle has done Abhishek a world of good. He’s cautious about stardom, adulation and appellations such as ‘sexy’ and ‘iconic’.
It’s amazing how much Abhishek sounds like his father when he speaks about success. They both believe one must respect success, but not be a slave to it. They both have a penchant for picking the proper words in their interviews without sounding rehearsed or laboured. Of course Abhishek is far less guarded off the record. But even with his closest friends he keeps a certain distance.
You can’t step into the very private enclave in Abhishek Bachchan’s heart , no matter who you are. Leave that bit aside. And you’re welcome into his world. The warmth that you see in his personality on screen connects so instantaneously with audiences because it isn’t faked.
Abhishek can never ham. He doesn’t know how to.
Says the doting father, “Aaradhya is the centre of our universe. She’s a wonderful child. All credit to Aishwarya for being a terrific mother.Fatherhood has completely changed my outlook to life. Bringing a child into the world changes all your priorities.I am sure every parent would agree.
His parents remain the centre of his universe.
Says the devoted son, “I’m close to both of my parents. But it’s a different equation with each. My father is more of a friend. I share a more traditional mother-son relationship with my mother. It’s very hard to differentiate between the two, but there’s a difference between my relationship with the two.”
Abhishek is looking forward to working with his father again. “I’ve enjoyed each and every moment with him on camera. I’ve learnt so much from just sharing camera space with him. I can’t wait to work with him again. Who wouldn’t? Apart from a son wanting to work with his father who wouldn’t want to work with Mr Amitabh Bachchan? I’m just excited at the thought of standing in the same frame as him. I don’t care if I don’t have a single dialogue.”
The most memorable birthday for Abhishek was not his own but his father’s 60th birthday. “It was a memorable occasion. My mother’s book on my father was released, which of course was wonderful. But the occasion was momentous because we were celebrating a life that has achieved so much. Besides being his son I’m his biggest fan. I refuse to believe anyone can be better than him. Here’s Mr Amitabh Bachchan who in my eyes is the greatest human being on earth , not to mention the biggest star and actor on the planet and one of our living icons. Just watching him at work is revealing. By watching him I’ve realized acting is. When you see him do a shot you immediately know there’s no way you can be as good as him.”
Any regrets? “I don’t regret doing any of the films of I’ve done. I’ve always worked from my heart. That works for me.”
Abhishek is looking forward to working with Aishwarya again. “Very soon, I hope. I really enjoy working with her. We get a lot fan-mail asking us to be together again on screen. We’d be more than glad to get together.”
Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out.
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