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I feel awkward when the average age on sets is 25 and I’m 74: Amitabh Bachchan
Though Amitabh Bachchan believes the new crop of actors in Bollywood is very knowledgeable, he can’t help but feel the age difference when he works with them on the sets.
Though Amitabh Bachchan believes the new crop of actors in Bollywood is very knowledgeable, he can’t help but feel the age difference when he works with them on the sets. “Their average age is around 25 years, and I am 74,” the veteran star said on the first day of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in Delhi on Friday.
When director Karan Johar, who moderated the session, asked if he has spotted a “ray of brilliance in any of the new actors”, Bachchan said he sees it in each of his co-stars.
The actor praised the writers and other creative heads involved in film production, and said they were the ones deserving of appreciation. “The kind of work our writers are doing these days is phenomenal. I am doing something that is asked of me. I am not doing anything on my own. The special effort comes from the writers,” he said.
When Johar asked him if 47 years of Bollywood experience has given him the ability to gauge a hit or a flop, Bachchan said: “Nobody can tell you that. Even you can’t tell which movie will work.”
When the director replied by claiming that he “knew” each time he was making a bad movie, the veteran actor quipped: “Why didn’t you stop then?”
The audience also had a lot of questions for Bachchan. When asked if he’s open to becoming the President of India, the Big B said: “I am not capable or knowledgeable enough to hold that office.”
In another response, he declared that his parents were his original “role models”.
Bachchan couldn’t help but smile when a member of the audience asked him to comment on the fate of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ in the post-demonetisation era. He asked Johar to give him the card bearing the question, so he could show it to the channel producers.
The actor made the audience roar with laughter when somebody asked him how he manages to function on three to four hours of sleep. “Actually, I am asleep right now,” he replied.
During the segment, Bachchan also elaborated on the effect that ‘Pink’ – his latest movie – had on society. “That movie was more than just an entertainment set piece… it had a very strong message. The movie also helped women understand their rights. For instance, look at the Zero FIR. Pink helped propagate it,” he said.
Bachchan said he personally believed in the character he played onscreen, and every word uttered in the movie echoed his own thoughts. He then followed it up by reciting a soulful verse on women empowerment from the Pink soundtrack for the audience.
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