Abhishek Bachchan revealed that no director wanted to take the responsibility of casting him.
During the Hindi Actors Roundtable on Galatta Plus, Abhishek Bachchan candidly shared the challenges he faced breaking into the film industry in the early 2000s. Despite widespread speculation in film magazines about the debut of Amitabh Bachchan's son, Abhishek revealed that filmmakers were reluctant to cast him in their projects.
“There was a lot of chatter, excitement about me joining (the film industry). Not because of me, but because of the kid I was. But contrary to that, people were not interested in working with me. I think I met all the directors I could have met, and they all very respectfully declined saying, ‘We don’t want the responsibility of watching you,” said Abhishek.
Later, Abhishek recalled how he landed his debut film. Initially collaborating with a friend and filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra on a period film named Samjhauta Express, Abhishek found himself unable to secure any actor for Mehra's directorial debut. In a committed effort, he grew a distinctive mustache and beard for the envisioned role. However, when they pitched the script to Amitabh Bachchan with hopes of having it produced under his banner ABCL, Amitabh dismissed it and called it "bakwas".
To lift his son's spirits, Amitabh took Abhishek along to the Filmfare Awards. It was there that filmmaker JP Dutta, who had just won the Best Film award for the blockbuster Border that same night, noticed Abhishek. A couple of days later, Dutta approached Abhishek for his next project, centered around a Mughal descendant, the son of Bahadur Shah Zafar. Although that particular film didn't come to fruition, JP Dutta eventually cast Abhishek in the 2000 cross-border romance Refugee, marking Abhishek's debut alongside fellow newcomer Kareena Kapoor.
Abhishek shared another anecdote about the aftermath of his father dismissing the script of Samjhauta Express as "bakwas." Distraught by this feedback, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra returned home, consumed a bottle of alcohol, and in a determined act of "revenge," wrote the script for Aks. This script eventually became Mehra's directorial debut and starred none other than Amitabh Bachchan himself.
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