| Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu |
Bachchan meets Bachchan
Big B was shooting in London, when he ran into son Abhishek. No wonder stars say they're shooting in Filmcity, London
Subhash K Jha
Amitabh Bachchan has been shooting non-stop in London for Balakrishnan's quirky love story Cheeni Kam.
"We have finished the schedule ahead of time, and the film is complete barring two days in Mumbai at the end of September. Tabu is wonderful as an artiste and a person, really a joy to be with her on the sets," says Bachchan, sounding enthusiastic and impatient to move on.
Bachchan is amazed by the global reach of Bollywood. "I guess it's a little surprising. But the vast and wide spectrum of different nationalities, that are identifying with Indian actors, their films and their work on the streets here, is just unbelievable. Turks, Russians and East Europeans, Germans, and people from Scandinavian countries and of course Middle Easterners, people from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Kosovo, Lebanon, African countries both on the East and West coast, Moroccans, Algerians, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria…. I have met all of them at shoots. Then of course the locals, not just the Pakistanis and the Bangladeshis but British Whites, even in remote areas like Bath, where I was shooting yesterday. It is just so amazing," he says.
He credits Bollywood's stalwarts for this widespread impact of Hindi cinema. "Well done Yashji, Adi, Karan, Shah Rukh, Hrithik, Salman and Aamir and the entire Indian film Industry for this. The whole working atmosphere in England is going through a sea-change. Line producers and production requirements are all taken care of in the best professional manner through companies run by expatriate Pakistanis and Indians. Cooperation from the authorities and the locals out there is wonderful. Besides, there're so many units from Mumbai working here. You move from one street to another and you bump into a film unit from Mumbai."
In fact, Mr Bachchan bumped into his son Abhishek while there. "We meet in each other's vanity vans in between shots and during lunch breaks. And we are not shooting for the same film. The scenario is as somebody from the industry once said, "Filmcity Mumbai in London."
Is he collaborating on the of his latest venture Johnny Walker? "I sat through the story sessions a couple of times and gave inputs, when asked, as I would in any other project. I am not writing the script. It has already been written, and I harbour no writing ambitions," he says.
Finally, he reserves comment on the death of one of his favourite filmmaker. "My thoughts on Hrishida are personal and, with due respects, not for public consumption. I did get a large number of requests from various media for reactions, which I had to regretfully, ignore. Talking about the passing away of a loved one is according to me an exploitation of personal grief, and I'm not comfortable with it," he says.
• We meet in each other's vanity vans in between shots and during lunch breaks in London. And we are not even shooting for the same film – Amitabh Bachchan
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