Abhishek Bachchan said that he was ‘literally shaking’ when he first acted opposite his legendary father, Amitabh Bachchan, in the film Sarkar. He knew that his father wouldn’t sugarcoat his feelings, especially when it comes to work. He learned the hard way after Big B didn’t mince words when expressing his feelings about Abhishek’s performance in Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar, and later said on national television that he wasn’t impressed by Mani Ratnam’s Yuva. While the general audience was very appreciative of Abhishek’s work in the film, Amitabh was immensely let down.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Abhishek was asked about the praise that his father showers on him on social media these days, and he said that he feels embarrassed about it. But, Abhishek said, it isn’t lost on him that his father is 83 years old, and is expressing his love for him in ways that he didn’t when he was younger. It wasn’t always like this, Abhishek said, as he recalled what happened in 2004.
He said, “It was Yuva’s premiere at the IIFA Awards in Singapore, and I watched the film, and I sensed that something special was happening.” Abhishek said that it was the first time that he found his own performance tolerable. After the screening, he walked over to Shammi Kapoor, and offered to help him up from his seat. Shammi Kapoor refused the assistance, got up by himself, and praised Abhishek loudly. The crowd erupted in applause, and Abhishek was on cloud nine. Outside, he saw his mother in tears, but his father simply told him that they would talk later. The chat never happened, until Bachchan announced on Koffee with Karan that he didn’t like Abhishek’s work in Yuva.
Abhishek continued, “The first time we shot together was for Sarkar. Ramu said that we’ll do some test shoots, and then I could go away and shoot Bunty Aur Babli. This was September 2004. First day, I was panicking and sweating. He says to me, ‘Shankar’, and all I had to do was turn around and say, ‘Ji?’ I was petrified, I was literally shaking. He has that effect.” Abhishek said that he ‘ran’ to his trailer after the shot was canned, and waited for his father to leave because he didn’t want to leave together. But Amitabh dropped by and insisted that they go home in the same car.
The entire ride back was spent in silence. When they pulled into their bungalow’s driveway, the staff got out, leaving the two of them alone in the car. “He’s just sitting there, and then, in 48 frames, he turned to me. ‘Isi liye maine itne saal mehnat karke tumhe padhaya likhaya? Dialogue bolna aata nahi hai tumhe (Is this why I worked so hard and spent so much on your education? You can’t even say a line properly).’ I felt like I had murdered someone, the way he looked at me,” Abhishek recalled.
Abhishek said that his father shook his head in disappointment, and later, Abhishek called up RGV and yelled at him for putting him in that position. “You dog! I told you this would happen,” he said. But Sarkar was a hit, and inspired two follow-ups. Abhishek was recently seen in Housefull 5.
