Ash is not unlucky for us- Big B

'Aishwarya is not unlucky for us'

Reproduced with kind permission from Mid-Day is Bachchan's tell-all interview to the newspaper's Upala KBR:

There has been speculation about Aishwarya Rai being unlucky for your family.

This is very insensitive. First, there were reports about her being a manglik before marriage, and then getting married to a tree, and now this. Every day there is some prediction about what she is, what her future will be, yeh jis ghar mein jayegi uska father-in-law mar jayega (her father-in-law will die). Aishwarya is not unlucky for us! Whatever is fated will happen.

It's all very well for the media to speculate and write, but has anyone thought about what she and her family must be going through? The worst is that the speculation has not stopped. Yeh ho gaya, woh ho gaya (this has happened, that has happened) -- all because of Aishwarya!

Have they any idea what she and Abhishek are really going through? What's marriage but the belief between two people? It's not scientific or ritualistic. It's about two minds connecting. This is my wife and she will be my wife for the rest of my life. That's it.

Do you believe in astrology?

No, I don't. Before Zanjeer released, Jaya and me had decided that if Zanjeer is a hit, we will go to London for a holiday, as I had never been abroad. When it became a hit and we told our parents that we are going on a holiday, my father said, 'If you go on a holiday with her, you must marry her.' I said fine, we got married and left. Abhishek and Aishwarya are fond of each other.

In New York, after the premiere of Guru, Abhishek called me and said that he proposed to her. I said, 'Come on home.' I asked Aishwarya if she was happy. She said yes. I picked them up and took her home. I told her, this is your home. Humko kya lena dena hai aur kuch se? (How does anything else matter?)

'Nishabh was very challenging'

They have liked the film. We are happy that something different has been accepted, though there were apprehensions from the media that we had just done a film with a similar premise of an older man falling in love with a younger woman.

CK was lighter, more comic and in some ways it looked morally correct, as opposed to Nishabd, where the audience had a pre-conceived notion that it was morally incorrect. We will respect that as the film has not done well.

Did you feel disappointed?

It was very challenging for me to do the role. I was surprised that Ram Gopal Varma could make a film of this nature, particularly when he has been known to delve more into grittier subjects on the underworld or an action film. I was surprised that he could understand some emotions in the film. We didn't want to make a film that was deliberately saying this is amoral or immoral.

I thought the way Balki divided the screenplay and brought out the situations, it was like any other commercial, romantic film -- except he was 64 and she was 34, and the father was 58, which was a pretty ridiculous situation, but it went well. I am very happy.

Back

|

Next

'I wouldn't be able to carry off a ponytail'

Yes, that's a proposal. We have the concept, but we have to get down to scripting...

Is there a greater comfort level working with Abhishek?

In front of the camera we are all artistes. Of course, it's nice to have your family with you, go together to the studio and come back home together. Otherwise, it's like working with any other artiste.

Was the ponytail in Cheeni Kum false?

Yes.

Have you thought of keeping one, since it makes you look younger?

Naah! I wouldn't be able to carry it off. The ponytail was Balki's idiosyncrasy.

Do you know how to cook?

No. I can just about boil water.

So you wouldn't be able to cook zafrani pulao in real life?

No. I don't know the recipe. That's all dialogue. I didn't actually cook it.

'Sholay has been a huge amount of nostalgia'

Obviously. Every step you take while working on the film, you think about what went on. Memories of any film you do always remain with you. Sometimes, when you get an opportunity to refer to it or think back on it, which happens quite often, because as you age you start thinking of your past a lot more.

Sholay has been a huge amount of nostalgia. In some ways, it's also coming full circle.

I loved Gabbar Singh's role when Salim-Javed narrated it to me. I begged Mr Ramesh Sippy that I wanted to do it. We were driving for the first time from Bangalore to the location. He didn't agree. I am happy Ramu has thrown this, as a challenge.

Will there be comparisons, as Amjad Khan made Gabbar an iconic villain?

Obviously there will be comparisons. That's fair enough. That's something one will have to live with. What is interesting is that there are diverse roles coming my way, which is not necessarily the good sounding patriarch who looks after the family.

Back

|

Next

Back | More 'In Aladdin, I play a genie' Then there's Bhootnath, where I play a ghost. In Aladdin, I play a genie, among various roles. How many patriarchal roles can I do? If there is variety, I would want to experiment and look at it as a challenge as an actor. I never got such opportunities earlier as I played leading men. ...and had the image of an angry, young man. That's an image that has stuck for a long time. These are descriptions and epithets that the media creates. We don't believe in it. Whenever there was a Deewar, there was an Amar Akbar Anthony, for a Trishul or Sholay, there was a Chupke Chupke. I consider myself fortunate to have got such diverse roles with a huge range of directors. Now that I can't play the typical leading man any longer, audiences should understand that I can't always play the good man. There is such a strong identification in the minds of the audience with the personality of the actor that they hate him doing something wrong if they love him for other reasons. Do you feel restricted as an actor by such emotions? I am beginning to feel that now. I hope it goes away. For me to grow as an actor, my creativity must be challenged. If I say today I am satisfied by doing a good job and nothing more as it will spoil my image, I would be sitting like John Wayne on a horse for the rest of my life. John Wayne never got off a horse in any movie. Somewhere I would feel I have missed something. The audience needs to differentiate that this is not what Amitabh Bachchan is, but a character he's playing. Back | More