I spent my initial years in Calcutta... it’s my favourite city.... Hear these words boom, even with your eyes closed, and you know they have been spoken — always from the heart — by Amitabh Bachchan. The 73-year-old screen Shahenshah, the man who has defined and redefined Bollywood and continues to have roles written for and around him, was back in Calcutta on Wednesday — this time to promote TE3N, his made-in-Calcutta thriller directed by city boy Ribhu Dasgupta.
Standing tall in a white-kurta pyjama ensemble teamed with a printed blue waistcoat and eyeball-grabbing maroon suede slip-ons, Bachchan strode into INOX (South City) on Wednesday afternoon to talk some about TE3N — that also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vidya Balan — and more than some about Calcutta, the city where he spent “almost eight years” as a young professional in the ’60s. Flanking Bachchan were Ribhu and Kahaani man Sujoy Ghosh, who had directed Bachchan in Aladin and is creative producer on TE3N.
t2 brings you highlights of Bachchan’s bol.
Why don’t we shoot in Calcutta?
Most of the preparation was done by Ribhu and I didn’t have to do much. Having spent seven-eight years in Calcutta in the early ’60s, I was aware of the Anglo-Indian society and I am aware they made up a large section of the people here. We were initially supposed to shoot this film in Goa, but I think Sujoy and Ribhu had some permission problems as well as some logistical issues. So they told me that Goa wasn’t happening and I was like, ‘Why don’t we shoot in Calcutta?’ So I came here and shot here (smiles).
John Biswas is an Anglo-Bengali. To play him, Ribhu said that he didn’t want me to do anything that is very expected. He also didn’t want me to have any kind of Bengali accent. We deliberately kept it very simple and unaffected. We kept John Biswas a very middle-class Anglo-Bengali man. He’s about my age….
Ribhu was really sure that he did not want any extraneous behaviour, any kind of effort in trying to portray my character because he thought it would destroy the essence of the story. So there were times when I would do something which I thought was okay, but he would ask me to tone it down a bit. Being simple in front of the camera is one of the most difficult things. I admire somebody like a Nawaz, for example, who has an exceptional quality of being very simple. Today’s actors, say Irrfan (Khan), Nawaz… the younger generation… there’s Ranbir (Kapoor), Ranveer (Singh), Alia (Bhatt), Kangana (Ranaut), Deepika (Padukone) are all so simple and normal in front of the camera. TE3N has been a challenge and I hope we can keep being challenged year after year because that’s what keeps us alive.
After 47 years in the industry, I still make mistakes
Ribhu and I worked on a TV series called Yudh, which was initially supposed to be directed by Anurag Kashyap, but he got busy and then decided to oversee the creative aspects of the show. And then he introduced me to Ribhu as someone who he felt would do a good job. Having worked with Ribhu on both Yudh and TE3N, I can say that I am very comfortable working with him. Sujoy came up with the idea of TE3N and when he and Ribhu came to me with it, I was only too happy to be a part of the film.
I don’t know why people say they feel enriched working with me because it’s usually always the other way around. Working with exceptional talents like Nawaz and Vidya is very enriching and humbling for me. I am in awe of the younger generation of actors… I am just amazed by the fact that they always manage to keep their work so fault-free. They are artistes who make no mistakes. Even after 47 years in the industry I still make mistakes… I am still learning. Everyone has failures. I have had more failures than anyone else. Each day for me is a learning graph and when I work with superior talent like on the sets of TE3N, it just makes it all the more special.
Oh Calcutta!
It’s always a great joy to be shooting in Calcutta, especially because of the people here. The city has great respect for art and culture and they are also very passionate about their feelings for cinema. They don’t hesitate to show their love for cinema but when we come to shoot here… never will they form a crowd and disrupt shooting… never will they wander into a frame….
When we decided to shoot TE3N in Calcutta, Sujoy promised to take me to places in the city I had never seen before. And he lived up to that… especially the wonderful corners of north Calcutta, where the old houses have so much posterity value. In fact, the apartment that we were shooting in in Calcutta [‘At Deshapriya Park,’ Ribhu chips in], one of the almirahs had a hand-written note by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay which has been preserved over so many years. These little things… these little experiences make life worthwhile for an actor.
Ribhu and Sujoy decided that we didn’t want to have sets, but shoot on real locations. We wanted to show Calcutta as it is and not make any kind of over-the-top expressions about the city. It’s just very natural. It’s very comforting to see the end product, and not see something that has been very obviously done.
I would choose a cycle, scooter is tough!
I have hardly driven a scooter in my life. In my university days (in Delhi), there was the odd time when I would, but not much. So when Ribhu told me that I would have to ride a scooter for this film, I was a little flummoxed. But he sent a scooter over to my house and in the mornings, I would practise on it and I think I got the hang of it (smiles).
Things like walking, running, swimming, riding a bicycle... these are things you never forget in your entire life once you’ve learnt it. So, you never forget how to ride a scooter… it’s just that you’re out of practice and at my age, after a 50-60 year gap of riding a scooter, you try it again. I used to go out to the Maidan early morning or just before the shot and practise.
Between a scooter (for TE3N) and a cycle (for Piku), I would choose a cycle. Scooter is tough!
Priyanka Roy and Rwitoban Deb
Doing which film was Amitabh Bachchan’s biggest ‘mistake’? Tell t2@abp.in
