Abhishaken!...but not stirred

As you can see, I’m not at all health conscious,” says Abhishek Bachchan, as he gleefully bites into a deep-fried snack with not a moment’s hesitation. Guess so – after all, he’d unapologetically said some time ago that he had managed to get by with a one-pack ab in Bollywood all this while.

“But I’ve multiplied it. It’s two packs now!” Two down, four to go? “No. I’m happy. This (pointing to his head) is the more important pack.”

Isn’t there pressure amidst all the rippled bodies? “No, I’ve never conformed to the stereotype. But I’ve conformed to the demands of the characters I’ve played. For instance, I did Guru, in which they asked me to put on 12 kilos. I did it because I needed to be true to the character... And this whole new trend of being very body conscious is primarily reflective of the demands of the scripts being written today.”

So if your character were to demand it, you’d get into similar shape? “Absolutely. Actors today are willing to completely surrender themselves and compromise their ‘image’ for a film.” What is your image? “My endeavour has been to have no image.” That’s a good thing for an actor? “Certainly.” Really? “Yes, I’ve made efforts to not be typecast. I take pride in the fact that in one year, I can start with a KANK , then do an Umrao Jaan , then a month later do a Dhoom 2 and a month later, Guru. That, to me, is exciting.”

Why is it that after so many years, Abhishek the individual, in public perception, is little understood? Surely there can’t be an endeavour to have “no image” there?

“It’s simply that I don’t think people are interested in it. I firmly believe that when it comes to filmstars, at the end of the day, what you’re selling on screen is the most important thing. It is because of that that they want to know what you eat, what you wear, where you travel, your friends, your enemies... the origin is that. So I tell myself, do your shot properly. Because that is the sole reason why people would want to know about me.”

So you’re happy wearing the mask of your onscreen persona all the time? Isn’t that a handicap in some way?

“Not necessarily. My belief is that one of the greatest reasons why KBC worked is that for the first time, after maybe 25 to 30 years, Amitabh Bachchan stepped into your living room. On a daily basis, he spent an hour with your family. And guess what, he was a really nice guy! But that was the first time they got to meet him. Till then, their entire image of him was what was portrayed through his work... So if the audience often don’t know us beyond the screen, maybe they don’t want to know. I remember – when I was very young, and I was travelling somewhere, there was a Hollywood actor on the same flight. And I saw that person, ragged hair, torn dress, this, that, and I said, this is the guy? I’d much rather remember him for being the person I saw on screen. You don’t want to break that image! So I think people often don’t want to know about stars because they’re possibly scared of breaking the image they have in their own minds.”

People may have got to know Amitabh only after KBC, but for someone who calls him dad, what is dad’s guiding funda? “My dad teaches me this – when you’re confused, cut the fat, just go back to the basics.” And what are your basics?

“My basics are, I wake up in the morning, and I act in front of the camera. And the greatest thing is, I love it. I get to live my dream. What more can I ask for? My basic is, go and give it your best shot, and if you can make even one person smile or cry or laugh in that dark cinema hall, you’ve achieved what you set out to do. It’s the one thing that kept me going through difficult times. I’ll illustrate this with something that happened some years ago... My films were doing really badly at that point. I had no work. People were actually replacing me in films. You know, the world out there can be really harsh. I remember, at that point, a film of mine called Shararat had come out; in fact, that release had been delayed by a year, it had a very small release. It was a wonderful, wonderful film with a very nice message – and it was a disaster. I went to GT Galaxy in Mumbai, like I go to watch all my movies with the audience. The hall was empty. There were about 15 people in a 900 seater hall.” That couldn’t have been a nice feeling? “Well, I wasn’t disheartened even by that, because, at that point of time, I’d actually gotten used to this sort of thing,” Abhishek laughs.

“Anyway, I was standing there outside during the interval and this old lady walked up to me. And for a moment I stepped back – because, you know, not too long before that I’d actually been slapped by a lady in the audience, so I was apprehensive.”

Did we get that right? “Yes. I think it was during the release of Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai . I think that lady was having a bad day. She got very upset. She walked up and said to me, ‘Who do you think you are? You think you can just go out there and make films and that’s it, you’re not responsible for anything beyond that?’ And she actually slapped me!” What was the issue with the film? “I don’t think there was an issue, but obviously, she didn’t agree with it!” Guess not.

“So now this old lady is walking up to me and I’m saying to myself, not again, and I’m sort of leaning back in anticipation of another slap – and she just came, she put her hand on my head, and she had tears in her eyes, she said, bless you, bless you for making this film. And I was, like – wow! After that, I had many more flops, but that lady kept me going. I don’t know who she is. But just knowing that I made a difference to that one person, that I managed to put a smile on her face... that mattered. There’s that famous quote – people will forget what you did, they’ll forget what you said, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel. That’s so true. I can’t remember exactly what she said, what she did, but I remember how she made me feel, and I haven’t met her since, but I want to say thank you to her even today. That one person was enough for me to carry on. If we manage to make a difference to even one person’s life, how many people have that power – no, power’s the wrong word – how many people have that opportunity?”

What was the whole near-miss thing on the night of the blasts in Delhi recently? “I was scheduled to attend a function in the evening. I had some time to spare and so, as I often do when I’m in Delhi, I decided to go to CP to visit the showroom of the watch brand that I endorse. Traffic was slow and when I was about five minutes from Connaught Place, I realised that I was getting late for the function, so I impulsively decided to turn around. When I reached back, I got to know that the bombs had gone off in CP a few minutes after I turned back. So, yes, divine intervention maybe...”

Abhishek will be playing a superhero in his next release, Drona, something he’s not done so far in his career. Which superhero was his favourite in childhood? “Superman, of course!” he exults, “Man of steel.” So tell us, Abhishek, what will the star who likes the man of steel and plays this magnificent steel sword-wielding character do when he meets the big bully, currently going by the name of Raj Thackeray? “If I meet Raj, I’ll walk up to him and say hello. Simple.” No hard feelings?

“At the end of the day, I don’t allow much to get to me. People have their compulsions. Life’s too short to hold grudges. Forgive and forget. Live and let live. Move on... but while you’re there, give it your best shot.”