I AM NOT HAPPY WITH ANY OF MY PERFORMANCES

INTERVIEW WITH Abhishek Bachchan, actor

- POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL

Despite several box office disappointments, Bachchan Junior, as he is popularly referred to, remains passionately committed to being a character actor. “For me, every project I do becomes my dream project. If it isn’t the case, there is no point in doing it at all,” he said. Abhishek Bachchan, with a burnished skin and a full beard, looks imposing and charismatic. We are at Janak, the family’s bungalow next to Jalsa (where Amitabh and Jaya reside), and Pratiksha (where Abhishek and Aishwarya live along with their daughter).

As we begin the conversation there arrives a plate of chocolate biscuits, and by the end of the interview, Bachchan has had them all. “This is also intentional,” he told me, “It is a part of the character I have to play in Shoojit Sircar’s next that I must binge on all this in order to look a certain way. We don’t get to live our lives; it is dictated by the work we are doing at that point of time.”

Excerpts from the interview:

Q\ How did Ghoomer happen?

 A\ [R.] Balki and I keep bouncing ideas off each other. The first time we did a film together was Paa (2009). After that we discussed ideas but nothing fructified. This time we managed to put it all together. In the case of Ghoomer, I liked the very concept itself. I play a coach of a paraplegic. The characterisation came much later. But it is not that I went ahead because Balki pitched it. Somewhere, as an actor, you have to be convinced about what you are doing. To me,