Sunday, August 10, 2003		In The Spotlight

Suit-able man

Actors come and actors go, but Amitabh Bachchan stands apart, charming viewers with his charisma for decades. Even a high-profile international company like Reid and Taylor can think of only Bachchan as its new brand ambassador in place of ‘James Bond’ Pierce Brosnan. Sanjiv Kumar chats up the living legend of Indian cinema.

"I am Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan." Perhaps this will be the punchline Big B may utter in the upcoming ad for Reid and Taylor which signed him as its brand ambassador after replacing ‘James Bond’ Pierce Brosnan. The Boom time continues for the resurgent megastar who recently signed Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black.

Excerpts from an interview:

I think one shouldn’t see it as a replacement gambit as it is nothing to do with taking over from James Bond. Reid & Taylor was looking for an individual who could Indianise the brand and they found in me someone who can hit their target clientele. I see it as any other assignment. No doubt, it is a privilege and pleasure to be associated with Reid & Taylor.

Did they? I am deeply honoured. I hope that I can contribute in my own way to make the brand’s vision of reaching out to Bharat a reality. I am extremely fond of wearing fine clothes. Suits, I believe, are a symbol of class and prestige.

Your dream of doing film with Sanjay Leela Bhansali has finally come true.

Yes, it’s a dream come true for me. Sanjay has signed me for his next flick Black and has given me an amazing subject. I’m very enthusiastic about the film. It’s the kind of film I have never done before. It’ll require me to do a lot of homework and hard work. We’ll start work by the end of the year.

I am fortunate to be working with people like Farhan Akthtar, Vikram Bhatt, Ravi Chopra and Kaizad Gustad. They have given me some wonderful moments on celluloid. I also observe that they do their homework and know how to extract work from an actor. I learn a lot from them in terms of their views and vision. At this age, the best part of life is you can get away with a lot of things as people are more understanding.

Aren’t you over-working?
No, I am not over-working. These are commitments I made and I have to abide by them.

Yeh, creatively I am not satisfied. So I think that there’s a lot to be done on the silver screen. So long as there are people who want to work with me and offer me roles, I’ll continue to work. I hope to entertain audiences for a long time to come.

Wonderful! They have not changed at all in their zeal. We have done many films in the past. I hope our reunion on the silver screen will work again.

I thought it was a polite way of saying, Ab aap chup chaap baithe rahiye. Aap aage kuch nahin kar sakte hain (You sit still now, you can’t do anything anymore). But work kept on coming my way and I performed to the best of my ability.

I had once asked the same question to my father who told me that Hindi films do poetic justice in three hours as goodness is rewarded, villainy or wickedness is punished and the hero gets his heroine in the end.

I don’t think that there’s any need for our cinema to change its basic concept and identity to compete for the Oscar awards. Our films should not lose their flavour and individuality to compete with any international award. But good movies are always welcome everywhere.

Of course. Indian filmmakers always attempt to make good and powerful cinema but it falls flat commercially as the appreciation level here is not very high. Improvement in education level is necessary to raise the sense of appreciation of moviegoers. Once we have more educated audiences, better films will follow. We cater mainly to the Hindi- speaking regions and the emphasis is on to make the venture commercially viable. Thus, the very idea of making a good movie disappears in between.

The purpose was to send a message that Indian cinema has the potential to match the global standards. The Indians abroad want to be part of our cinema. These award functions help promote Hindi cinema among them, besides attracting huge TV audiences all over the world and highlighting the potential of our cinema.

The township of Deauville in Paris organised an Asian and Western film festival, which showed a retrospective of my films for the first time. Deewar, Sholay, Agnipath, Kabhi Kabhie and Mohabattein were screened for the French audience who were very much
familiar about my work. Besides, I was made an Honorary Citizen of the town and presented with a medallion, an honour earlier bestowed on only two people — Queen Elizabeth II of England and the Soviet space hero, Yuri Gagarin.

I have never been much of a singer. But if people enjoy my voice then I am privileged. I have already sung three songs for Baghbaan. In one of them, Abida Parveen sings while I recite my dialogue.

It is true. A small amount is left, which will also be cleared soon. Though some people suggested to me to declare myself bankrupt, I chose to work hard to redeem ABCL, now known as AB Corp, which is ready to launch two films. I will be starring in both the films, along with my son Abhishek. TWF