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Tie your shoelaces: That's what Amitabh Bachchan told Sidharth Malhotra when he was 8
Sarita A Tanwar (DNA; August 10, 2015)
Sidharth Malhotra is a star today, but he hasn't forgotten the first moment when he was star-struck. It was in his childhood years and the man who left him gobsmacked was Amitabh Bachchan (who has that effect on most adults as well).
He says, "When I was really young, I came to Bombay to see a shoot for the first time. It turned out to be the shooting of Bachchan saab's Akayla. I remember there was a yellow car on the set. During the break, a bunch of kids and I ran and towards him and Mr Bachchan was sweet enough to hand out autographs."
He further recalls their conversation. "I will remember it all my life. My shoelaces were untied. He looked down and said to me (in Big B's baritone) Tie your shoelaces'. I don't remember anything else about that day. I was eight years old or something..."
He doesn't have that autograph anymore. Sid reveals, "I lost it. Such a stupid child I was... I met him for dinner recently. I was amazed that he asked Karan (Johar) to organise all the young directors and actors. He said, I want to work more and I want to know how the new generations thinks.' It's amazing at 73 he has that passion and zest. He met all of us " Adi (Aditya Chopra), Anushka (Sharma), Alia (Bhatt) and other young actors and directors."
He further adds, "We had dinner at Karan's house and I behaved like a fan boy with Bachchan saab. I stood there and asked him about his earlier days like Sir, where did you have your first house? Who styled you in those days? How did you come about with X and Y film... He just smiled at me and was very nice and answered all my questions."
Was there any startling information that he learnt? "I didn't know he has spent two nights on this bench in Ballard Pier. I was surprised when he said that he didn't have a place to stay in the city, so he stayed there," he says. I reminded him that even Shah Rukh Khan slept on Marine Drive when he came to Mumbai to be an actor and both actors who did that went on to become superstars."
He smiles, "Now I am feeling bad that I have not done these things. Because like them, even I have come from outside this city to make a living as an actor. I want to learn from them. So I asked Mr Bachchan what that experience taught him. He said, That the rats in Mumbai are bigger than the cats.'"
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