Ayaz: The streak of success that started with Zanjeer continued unstoppably for ten years. Now that you have seen both success and failure so closely, what are your learnings?
Bachchan: Babuji taught me one thing when I used to go to school. He told me 'mann ka ho to accha, aur na ho to zyada achha'. I thought, okay, 'mann ka ho to achcha' is fine, but how can something be better 'jo mann ka na ho'? My father then told me that if something doesn’t turn out the way you wanted, then perhaps God wants it that way- so that's why it's even better. There are certain things you and me can't see but He can see it. And He always wants your good, so we need to go on working and leave the rest to Him…
Ayaz: You mentioned earlier that in every decade there were different influences like Manmohan Desai and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Now, Hrishida used to be very sensitive. There used to be a social message in all his films. Manmohan Desai was very flamboyant and over the top while Prakash Mehra used to straddle between both. How difficult was it for you to adjust?
Bachchan : The maximum films I have done under one director is Hrishida. A lot of people still think I did the most films with Manmohan Desai or Salim-Javed or Ramesh Sippy or Prakash Mehra, but I have done the maximum with Hishikesh Mukherjee.
Ayaz: The kind of films he made aren't seen today…
Amitabh: I agree. There used to be the truth of life and insaaniyat in them. The way people reacted to society was reflected in them and yet these films were entertaining. It is a very difficult thing to do. Because he used to be Bimal Roy’s assistant, Hrishida carried the tradition forward. I sometimes feel bad that people don’t talk about some of his finest movies, they only talk about movies that did well at the box office. They talk about Deewar, Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony…but the films Hrishida made had depth in them. Us mein kuch baat thi, be it Guddi or Abhimaan, Milee or Chhupke Chhupke, Bemisal, Jurmana…all these films were beautifully made.
I probably didn’t feel as satisfied with anybody as I did with Hrishida. Because he was such a good editor, even before the film even came on the sets, he had actually edited it in his mind. There are times, I used to be baffled.
(Animatedly) "Accha Amit, aise bol ke idhar aise mur jana aur aise khare ho jana".
"Magar Hrishi da".
Only when I used to see the film I realised how intelligent he was and how fast his mind worked. But that period is over. So many filmmakers came during that time who made similar films, but somehow there was something in Hrishida’s films that was not there in anybody else’s.
Ayaz: How do you cope with the present?
Bachchan: There must be a challenge every day, otherwise the artiste in you will die. So many people tell me, ‘you have achieved so much in your life, so sit at home, play with your grandchildren’. But as an artiste I feel there needs to be a fear in me. Like now – I am sitting in front of you, but I know I have to go and rehearse. I will be on TV tomorrow - so what will I say, how will I fare? Tomorrow there's a shoot of another film. I am worried what kind of character it will be, whether I will be able to do it well or not. You should get butterflies in your stomach. I still get them. I feel this is really necessary for an artiste…very necessary
Ayaz: For the creative juices to flow?
Bachchan: Bilkul, bilkul…
Ayaz: There were several eras in the film industry. When you came, an era was coming to an end, like Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kapoor, Dev Anand. How influenced were you by, say Dilip Kumar, who was generally regarded as the ultimate in acting?
Bachchan: He still is… I have been his fan since childhood, even before I joined the film industry. I have always regarded him and Waheedaji as examples for me and continue to do so. I feel the person who can match Dilip Kumar in acting hasn't been born in India yet. Actors who came after Dilip saab are lying if they claim they haven't been influenced by him. There’s no era as such. I still watch Dilipsaab and I still get to learn something from him every day. I never thought I would get the chance to stand with the person I admire so much...and suddenly one day, I am standing with him at a muhurat and working with him in a film. Whatever I had heard and learnt was nothing compared to what I learnt from him.
The way he would on his characters...kitni bariki ke saath har kirdaar par mehnat karte the! The way he used to work even at that age! `‘No, my fingers were not right. The expressions were not right. I didn’t deliver the dialogue right’’. The way he opted for retake after retake till he was satisfied. Forget the fact that the shot was okayed on the first take. But he kept improving on each shot till he was satisfied himself. I got to see all this and still regard him as one of the finest actors. I feel Ganga Jamuna was his best film but it never got an award.
Ayaz: Life is not always fair. But today, the newer generation feels the ultimate in acting is Amitabh Bachchan…
Bachchan: I will tell them that they are mad. They should watch Dilipsaab and other big stars of that era.
Comments
