I’m the king of sequels: Abhishek

Abhishek Bachchan gears up for Dostana 2, before Dhoom 3, says you never know about Sarkar 3 either, his next Players could become franchise if successful. Roshmila Bhattacharya reports.

Two years ago, Dostana had made his pairing with John Abraham Bollywood’s Jodi No 1 and it came as no surprise when producer Karan Johar announced its sequel a year later. But Abhishek Bachchan admits that he was skeptical about Dostana2 before singing on. The actor is set now to dive into part two, ‘prepping’ for the role, shoot to begin middle of the year.



He points out that they had already taken a risk with the original but when Tarun Mansukhani had narrated the script to him during the filming of Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (2006), he’d been floored. Fortunately, even though Dostana touched on a sensitive subject—homosexuality—it didn’t hurt anyone’s sentiments nor did it make any controversial statements.

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Abhishek

"But once the cat was out of the bag, so to say, I didn’t think we could spin any more laughs around the subject. So I advised Tarun to leave it alone. He requested that I at least listen to his story. If I didn’t like it, he’d can the idea. And of course, I loved it," smiles Bachchan. He admits that Mansukhani is taking his time to write the script but argues that’s reasonable: "Having ridden the wave of success once, we have to come up with a bigger and better film."



Later this year, Dhoom 3 will also go on the floors with a new con-star. Bachchan is unfazed. "First John (Abraham), then Duggu (Hrithik Roshan) and now Aamir (Khan). The stakes are getting higher as the franchise gets bigger. But Jai (his character, Jai Dixit) and Ali (Uday Chopra’s character) are constants. It’s impossible to imagine Dhoom without both of them and their exciting chemistry. Jai is an intelligent cop and no matter how smart the heist specialist is, he’ll outsmart him," promises the actor.

Bachchan however points out that his forthcoming film Players, which he’s shooting for in New Zealand, could be built into a brand. “After The Italian Job, we now have The Brazilian Job on the floors,” he points out. “Who knows what’s next? I’m the king of sequels,” he says.