Abhishek Bachchan on raising Aaradhya: ‘A parent should lead and teach by example’

Abhishek Bachchan said his father Amitabh Bachchan, who is 82, starts shooting at 7 in the morning. He wants to lead by his example.

Actor Abhishek Bachchan has always been vocal about the immense pride he feels in being a father to his daughter, Aaradhya Bachchan. In a recent interview, he delved deeper into his parenting approach, revealing the values he hopes to instil in his child. Drawing from his upbringing, Abhishek credited his parents, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan, as his guiding lights in learning the nuances of parenting.

What did Abhishek say

Abhishek and Aishwarya welcomed Aaradhya Bachchan on November 16, 2011.

During an interview with CNBC-TV18, Abhishek spoke about raising his daughter and the values he wants to instil in her. He said, “You spend a lifetime trying to search for who you are. But there are certain values that you should stand by. And if you can manage to be recognised and remembered by those values, I think you have led a successful life. That’s kind of how I was brought up. These are the things that I’ve seen my parents do and I hope I am able to do the same for my daughter.”

Abhishek feels parents aren’t always the best teachers for their children, adding, “I don’t know if parents are the best teachers, I am on the fence for that. I think our emotions and desire for our children to get it right, succeed, and not hurt themselves come in the way. Our emotions towards them maybe colour our judgement. A parent should lead and teach by example. Today, whatever I have learnt and imbibed from my parents is by seeing the way they conduct themselves. Not necessarily by what they told me I should be doing. Thankfully, they have given me the freedom to take my own decisions. But if I am ever stuck, I would still sit back and say, ‘What would my dad have done?’ If he or my mom approached this scene, for example”.

After months of speculation about trouble brewing in their life, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan quashed the buzz by making a rare appearance together at their daughter’s school event in Mumbai last month. Abhishek and Aishwarya married in 2007. They share a daughter, Aaradhya Bachchan, born on November 16, 2011.

Rumours about tension between Aishwarya and Abhishek began in July last year when the former and her daughter arrived for Anant Ambani's wedding separately from the rest of the family, including Amitabh, Jaya, Abhishek, Shweta, Agastya Nanda, and Navya Nanda. It led to speculation about their separation.

What’s next for Abhishek

Abhishek is all set to star alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Siddharth Anand’s King. The film also stars Suhana Khan and Abhay Verma. Apart from this, he also has Remo D'Souza’s Be Happy in the pipeline, which follows the journey of Shiv Rastogi, a father determined to support his daughter's dream of performing on a major dance reality show.