'Abhishek Has Gone Through A Lot'

'It's a tremendous accomplishment to have a father like Amitabh Bachchan and still be so sorted, to not taste the kind of success that he should have and yet be so balanced.'

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Like Kareena Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan celebrates his 25th year in showbiz too. Writer-film-maker R Balki has worked both father and son in Paa, directed Amitabh Bachchan in Shamitabh and Abhishek in Ghoomer, all three films co-produced by Junior Bachchan. The director rewinds to their first meeting and explains why he wanted to reverse the equation on screen.

"I always wanted to see Amitabh Bachchan as a child because he is one. At 82, he is a sometimes sulky, sometimes funny child, always endearing, who for all his gravitas, always makes me smile and laugh. Abhishek is an adult in a lot of ways," he says.

Let's flashback to your first meeting with Abhishek.

During the Cheeni Kum (his 2007 directorial debut) promotions, I met Amitabh Bachchan, who was having a conversation with Abhishek. Abhishek was saying something serious and Amitji was pulling his leg.

Looking at them, I wondered who was the dad and who was the young one. It was at that moment that I decided that whenever I made a film with them, I would need to find a way to reverse the conventional father-son equation. Maybe the idea of doing a film on progeria came from that thought.

A rare genetic condition, it makes a 12-year-old child look five times older, and I could project Amitji as a brat with Abhishek as Auro's mature dad. That's how I saw them during that first interaction and the impression hasn't changed.

Abhishek not only acted in Paa, but was also one of the film's producers. What's he like as a producer?

He is not an interfering producer or one plotting on how to make money from the film. Both of us are fools in a lot of ways. Would you believe that someone wanted to buy Paa, but Abhishek refused the offer, saying we would distribute the film in our way?