At 70, Amitabh Bachchan’s film and social diary is jam-packed. Indian cinema’s biggest icon, who has just wrapped up the sixth season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), barely has time to take a breather as five films with celebrated filmmakers await him. Excerpts of a brief conversation with Big B…
Is there a kind of void now that this season of KBC has wrapped up?
One always misses KBC because it gives me great joy to meet different kinds of people. I’m eagerly waiting for the next season. One tends to get involved with the people who come on the hot seat. Now, I’ve got film shootings beginning in a week’s time. Prakash Jha’s Satyagraha will be the first to go on the floors. It has Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Manoj Bajpayee, Arjun Rampal and me. I like Prakashji’s cinema. He makes films that deal with topics that have some social or moral standing.
Are you playing Anna Hazare in the film?
No. I’m not playing Anna Hazare. I play a man of principles who fights for rights.
Which are the other films that you will do in 2013?
There is a host of other films that I need to just programme. There is Sudhir Mishra’s Mehrunissa, Bhootnath-2, R Balki’s film, Sujoy Ghosh’s film and then there is television. Yes, there will be the next season of the game show.
Mehrunissa is a love story. Does it feel good that makers are writing love stories for you even at this age?
Mehrunissa is not a love-story in the traditional sense. This is all I can say. Sudhir will have to say the rest. Yes, it is nice to have all kinds of parts being written for me, though.
The way you are… 24 hours a day must seem less for you…
It is fortunate that even at this stage, I keep getting offers and I’m occupied. It is a great feeling. Work keeps you going. It regularises your life. You want to get into a routine rather than do nothing.
Have you ever had a day when you’ve done nothing?
Yes, there are days when I’m not in front of the camera. But there’s a lot of work at home. There are films to be seen, music to be heard, books I want to read, so much writing to do. There’s a whole load of things I need to catch up on. I love surfing the net and I also enjoy working on my digital domain.
Is there any special time allotted to Aaradhya?
Ya, every time she is up, we drop everything to be with her. When she is asleep, we don’t wish to wake her up. But when she is up and about, then all of us are on call.
Do you and Abhishek hit the nightclubs, like you did with Shweta years ago?
Yes, of course. Whenever Abhishek and I want to go out for dinners or drives, we do it. We do it here in India and during our trips together overseas. Earlier, I would go to clubs, but now, it’s very odd for me to hit a night club with him.
