I get intimidated by young actors: Big B

I get intimidated by young actors'

Amitabh Bachchan fondly talks about Bollywood's young brigade...

Nayandeep Rakshit

While most actors Amitabh Bachchan's age have either stopped acting or are seen in miniscule roles, Big B is still popular for his leading roles in recent films.

Tell him that and he smiles, "These are the wonderful epithets that people have attached to me. Honestly, I don't believe in them. It has never been about a leading role or my age. I know the kind of roles that will come to me and I am okay with it. If a director's vision is something that excites you, you do the film."

He's worked with a slew of young actors today. From Shah Rukh and Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan to Farhan Akhtar, Shraddha Kapoor and Dhanush, he's shared the screen with almost every generation of actors. Do they get intimidated in his presence? This question has Big B burst out laughing. "Nobody gets intimidated by me. It's the contrary. They are so good that I make mistakes in front of them and it's really bad. So then after it's over, I call the director to say, Can I please have another chance?' Then we re-do it. It's a lovely process. Creativity should have these opportunities where if you realise you can do something better, you should do it. There are directors who tolerate me and I am very happy there are."

There's an interesting pack of actors leading the young brigade today. Despite the age gap, Big B fondly gets along with all around. But is there anyone in particular he likes? "They are all very good. I cannot pick one of them because they are all so talented, in their very first appearance. It's unimaginable for someone like me to think of doing something like this even when I was starting off. I am still hesitant of how to present myself. The young actors are so confident and I admire their brilliance and their talent. I admire the fact that they are so conversant about where they want to go and what they want to do. I still don't know where I want to go," he continues. "Even if you go out very minutely to look for mistakes in them, you won't find them. I can't see a mistake when I see a Ranbir or a Deepika or a Ranveer. Then there's Priyanka, Alia, Kangana " all these newcomers! Look at the kind of work they are doing. It's unbelievable. This is the generation that is going to take us even further."

That's not all. Bachchan is happy the way our actors are now representing Bollywood on a global platform. He credits them, "Look how our films have reached overseas and reached markets which we had no clue about. People like Karan, Shah Rukh and Salman and Aamir have made it possible for a much bigger audience to watch our films. It's so wonderful that abroad, they talk about our films and superstars like Shah Rukh and Salman. It's just a great feeling."

Talking about working with youngsters, one question is unavoidable. Having so many beautiful heroines around, does he regret not getting to play their romantic interest? "We tried it once in Nishabd. It was a failure. They didn't accept the fact that a 60-year-old man could fall in love with an 18 year old girl. No, I am not going to get a leading lady to play my love interest. That period is over. I wish I had these lovely ladies around when I was playing the leading man. It won't happen now, so I will have to do character roles, which is what I am doing," he rues.