'I'll be an expert bank robber soon!'

Subhash K Jha

Three months into 2002, Amitabh Bachchan has agreed to three new assignments. He also has three releases lined up in the next couple of months.

"That's right," confirms Big B. "Besides Ravi Chopra's film which I agreed to earlier, I have also agreed to do Sujit Kumar's film Aitbaar, and Honey Irani's film."

He is now spending as much time as he can looking after his father who has undergone surgery. Poet Harivanshrai Bachchan has now been shifted home for post-operational care.

Amitabh is now involved in the promotion of his next three releases, Aankhen, Hum Kisise Kam Nahin and Kaante, which are due in April, May and June. In Aankhen and Kaante, Amitabh plays negative roles, while in David Dhawan's Hum Kissi Se Kam Nahin he enacts a comic role, as a psychiatrist.

One wonders why the actor has taken on so many assignments. "My assignments are for very old friends. I have known Sujit Kumar for so many years. He has gone through a rough patch recently. His film will be directed by Vikram Bhatt. In Honey Irani's film, I have a brief role. The male lead will be played by Anil Kapoor."

In addition, Bachchan has assignments with producer Feroz Nadiadwala (Kutumb), journalist-turned-filmmaker Khalid Mohamed and two home productions (for Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited), to be directed by Vipul Shah and Rakesh Mehra during this year.

Amitabh Bachchan is looking forward to a revamped version of the popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati in July. And rumours of joining politics seem totally improbable. Says the exasperated star, "I have been saying the same thing, and I'll say it again. I have no intention of joining politics now or in the future. If people still insist on reading hidden agendas in my apolitical actions, what can I do?"

Aankhen marks a clean departure for the star from the recent spate of stern patriarchal parts he has been playing: "It does take me into a totally different territory. I play a completely negative role. Vipul, who will direct Abhishek and me in our home production, got the plot for Aankhen from a Gujarati play that he directed. I play a bank manager with a fierce temper."

There seems to be some similarity in the roles in Aankhen and Kaante. " In Kaante, I don't lead the bank robbery. I am just part of a group. In Aankhen I am almost directly responsible for all the wrong that happens in the story.

"Aks was only partly negative. In Aankhen I am cast in a completely negative role. In many ways, my role in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham was also negative. I asked for a lot of trouble in the film. I threw my son Shah Rukh out of the house. I slapped Hrithik Roshan. I was nasty to Jaya Bachchan. And I insulted Kajol. That was asking for serious trouble!

He has has done negative roles in his early films like Parwana and Don. Does he enjoy being bad? "I look at it as part of my work. I just do whatever the role demands. I am just selecting from whatever comes along. But I feel most directors are doing roles similar to Mohabbatein with me. Aankhen and Kaante are exceptions."

There are numerous rumours regarding Big B's health. He explains, "I have had a bad back for a year-and-a-half. It is taking its time to heal. While shooting for Kaante in the US, I developed a cervical problem which restricts my movement in the neck region further. I am undergoing treatment. Meanwhile, I am continuing with my work. Jo commitments hai ussey main kaise chod doon? It isn't as though I like pushing myself. I'm not jumping from here to there for no reason. There are commitments and they have to be fulfilled. I couldn't wriggle out of my Kaante schedule. It was planned two years ago. I can't wriggle out of KBC. I just have to keep going. Long live painkillers!"

Speaking on the experience of working in Los Angeles for Kaante Bachchan says, "It was great. We worked with an American crew. That was a first for me. I was very happy. The atmosphere was most conducive to work. We were able to finish off our work on schedule in spite of the September 11 setbacks. I had gone to Egypt for a day to accept an award at the Cairo Film Festival. I was on the way back from Cairo, changing planes in London, when we were brought back to Heathrow after takeoff.

"My daughter [Shwetha] informed me about the happenings while I was waiting at the airport lounge in London. So I was watching the devastation on CNN, not knowing whether we would be back after takeoff, and that I would be stranded in London for four days. Only then could I proceed to LA. Even then, we wrapped up the shooting in time.

About Aankhen and Kaante, he says, "Working in an ensemble cast was a new experience for me. But I will have to disagree with you if you say that in the past, my films were one-man shows. Every film, regardless of who stars in it, is a team effort. All other actors contributed equally to every film I have done.

"In Aankhen and Kaante we are all together. If nothing else, I will be an expert bank robber soon," he laughs.