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Abhishek Bachchan on the trappings of cinema
On the eve of his 45th birthday, Abhishek Bachchan holds forth on decisions well-made, celebdom and the reality of glamour
To paraphrase Rudyard Kipling, Abhishek Bachchan says one has to try to “treat success and failure, both these impostors, the same.” Abhishek has just completed 20 years in the Hindi film industry and will be celebrating his 45th birthday on February 5. His traverse has encompassed good times – Bunty Aur Babli (2005), Guru (2007), Dostana (2008), Bol Bachchan (2012) – as well as arid stretches of hurdles and hurt. But the actor’s continued relevance and nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic indicates he comprehends the essence of Kipling’s quote.
Now the warmth of the spotlight may be back on Abhishek with Anurag Basu’s well-received web film, Ludo (2020). “Makes an impact”, “A telling performance”, “A fine job” are some of the critical comments the actor received. In the past, however, critics have often taken him to the cleaners.
But Abhishek remains equable all through. Does his mean that his combination of sheer grit and sardonic humour has made him well-nigh imperturbable? Or does he just mask his emotions well?
The inner truth
At some point in our 90-minute tête-à-tête on Zoom, I ask rhetorically: ‘Why would Rakesh Roshan go to anyone else when he has Hrithik Roshan at home?’
A poker-faced Abhishek quips: “Why would anyone go to anybody else if they have Hrithik Roshan at home?”
I laugh at the laconic wisecrack and it leads me to suggest that two decades of straddling career peaks and troughs has made Abhishek unflappable about competition, criticism and its ilk. His emphatic response, however, surprises me.
“Au contraire,” he says, “I’m very flappable. I have a very bad temper and zero patience. But if you are referring to the unsavoury comments that I’ve faced, I have a unique way of approaching them.”
His approach is to alchemise criticism into personal growth. “Don’t let anybody convince you that it’s all about art. I don’t know any Indian actor who is not enamoured by the lifestyle, the glamour and all the trappings of cinema. The faster you admit this truth, the faster you can be truthful to your performances. Otherwise, you are going to keep building walls around who you are. Hum sab star-actor banna chahte hain (We all want to be stars-actors).”
The trick lies in not getting carried away. When I assert that Mahesh Bhatt had once told me ‘Success is nothing but delayed failure,’ Abhishek responds with disarming honesty, “I am not that spiritual about it. Let me tell you, it feels great when your film does well.”
Then he denies his indifference to criticism. “I take everything personally, especially the negative stuff. Yes, criticism hurts. It chips at your self-confidence and self-respect because you are failing on a public stage. The best an actor can do is humour himself with, ‘I am going to remember this emotion and use it in my film’.’’
Constructive criticism
Besides employing humour, Abhishek learnt to use the barbs as building blocks in the development of his own professional persona. “I credit a lot of what I am today as an actor to the critics and social media. When the criticism is negative, I ask myself, ‘Why am I getting defensive about this?’ Somebody is actually telling me what I’m doing wrong. We attend acting schools so that mentors can tell us our drawbacks and help hone our talent.”
He harks back to Refugee (2000). “I would highlight the portions of reviews in which they spoke about me. Some of them took a lot of pleasure in deriding me. Initially, I responded in a very arrogant way. But in my second year as an actor, I approached criticism mathematically. I would focus on the seven negative lines about me and aim to bring them down to five. Since then I have approached negative reviews positively and therefore I am publicly unflappable.”
Of course, Abhishek is vulnerable and his philosophy has evolved over time. He shares, “At one point of time, I had 17 films that weren’t considered hits. I was very disillusioned. I went to my father (Amitabh Bachchan) and said, ‘I think I’ve made a mistake. Nothing is working. I need to do something else.’ Dad replied, ‘I didn’t bring you up to be a quitter. Besides, you are improving with every film. When you work, you’ll keep improving and people will notice it.”
This has stood Abhishek in great stead for over two decades. “The great thing about being an actor is the more you do it, the more you fall in love with the craft. But the art of acting and the industry demand blood. Every film that has done well, I’ve literally bled for.”
Abhishek fuels his passion with what his grandfather, Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan, said: ‘Jab tak jeevan hai, sangharsh hai (life means struggle)’. “Every new entrant to the industry should know that the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, at the age of 78, still wakes up every morning thinking, ‘Oh God, am I going to get my next job?’”
We wish he wins all battles in the year ahead!
Dinesh Raheja is a reputed film historian, columnist and TV scriptwriter who has been writing on cinema for over three decades
From HT Brunch, January 31, 2021
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