While many might assume that landing his debut film would have been a cakewalk for Abhishek Bachchan — being the son of Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and legendary actor Jaya Bachchan — contrary to these assumptions, the actor recently revealed that several directors actually refused to launch him. The reason: they didn’t want to take on the massive responsibility of introducing Big B’s son in the Hindi film industry.
Speaking to Nayandeep Rakshit, Abhishek admitted that he was raring to go at the age of 21 but found no offers coming his way. He said, “When you’re 21 years old and filled with exuberance and zest, and you know the chatter that you keep hearing around you, ‘he’s gonna become an actor’. Oh, it’s a big deal. Somewhere you get caught up in that, and when you go into a meeting—and not one but several—to say, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ and very politely, none of them were rude.”
Finally, in the year 2000, filmmaker JP Dutta took a chance on Abhishek and launched him in Refugee. Interestingly, the film also marked the debut of another high-profile star kid—Kareena Kapoor Khan.
Abhishek confessed that those early rejections left a lasting impact. “I didn’t understand then but I understood when I signed Refugee. They were like, ‘We don’t want the responsibility of launching Amitabh Bachchan’s son.’ I didn’t get that, but when I started working and I started seeing firsthand what my father meant to the film industry — fellow actors, directors — I said, you know, I get it. He’s such an immense figure that people have so much love and respect for, and I think that’s amazing. I can understand why people said, ‘Don’t put that on us.’”
He added, “I get it, but when you are so young and are like ‘I’m ready, but no, really? Okay.’ You feel bad, you’re young, you know, you haven’t seen as much of the world. You’re not as wise. So you feel bad. It’s very disheartening, as any actor will tell you—not just me. I am the least qualified compared to the heartbreak many actors would have seen.” Abhishek is currently busy promoting his upcoming film Kaalidhar Laapata.
