Gaurav Malani gets into an exclusive conversation with the Big B about the aftermath of Sarkar Raj, his aggressive attitude in blogs and what keeps his energy levels eternally high.
Starting off with Sarkar Raj, are you pleased with the response you got for the film?
Yea, we are very happy. We have got lot of positive responses from the fans and well-wishers. Also, the returns of the film, financially, are extremely good. So all in all it’s a very happy moment.
Apparently there were few diverse reactions to the film and many were of the opinion that the sequel pales in comparison with Sarkar. Ram Gopal Varma even severely lashed out at some critics. What was your reaction to the reviews?
Every individual has the right to express their opinion and we will accept and honour that. But it is the opinion of one person – whether we agree or disagree to it is our criteria and whether they like it or not is the critic’s criteria.
But on a personal level do you believe that Sarkar Raj was better than the prequel?
I don’t think that we set out to make a film to better it than something else. I would like to believe that we make films to better our own selves. But if you were to still ask me this question I would say yes, I was satisfied with my performance. I was happy with the way Ram Gopal Varma shaped the film. There will always be room for improvement. I hope that there is because as artists we want to improve with every film. There should be an opportunity to be able to do that. And I hope I keep getting that opportunity from Ram Gopal Varma.
Is there any one particular scene from Sarkar Raj that has had a lasting impression on your mind?
That’s a difficult question to answer. I would personally like to believe there are many moments in the film. (Takes a long pause to ponder and smiles). I liked the relationship between the father and the son. I liked the way the son was now more authoritative and more in control of what was going on. I liked his intensity. I liked the fact that even though he was responsible for the elimination of his own brother who was actually going to be involved in the murder of his father, he felt emotional towards it but at the same time he felt that it was a necessary deal too. I felt for Subhash Nagre’s character, for this old patriarch who had to see so much tragedy that was happening in his family. One cannot draw yourself away from the fact that there are many prominent high profile families all over the world, not just in India, who have faced with multiple deaths of relatives in their own family and how they face the trauma. So these were some interesting moments.
But if you were to ask me to pick one or two scenes, I would think that it would be the one where the father goes to the hospital after he comes to know his son is shot. Even though he has been told outside the hospital that his son is not going to survive, he still comes in there with a smile on his face and wants to convince his son that everything would be fine. That would be a tough moment for any father. That was a tough moment for me as an actor. I also like the portion where he spends his little quiet moment before his son’s photograph or the moment where he discloses the entire plot to Aishwraya as to what the politics were that resulted in all that happened in the family. I also liked the moment where he confronts Raosahab in the climax. Those were some memorable moments for me.
The Nagres worked strongly towards the development of Maharashtra. In real life a lot of insinuations were made against you regarding your loyalty towards the state. Was it a conscious decision to devise the screen characters likewise?
No, not at all. I don’t think we work with intentions to mix real life and screen life.
In your early days, you were given the tag of an angry young man. Over the years you have played a diverse range of characters but with the Sarkar series do you think you get to relive that initial image?
I do not work towards an image. Neither do I follow an image nor do I believe in it. These are wonderful little epithets that are made by the media for whatever reasons and their own convenience. I believe I am an artist and should be given as many diverse roles as possible and it should be my duty to play them to the best of my abilities. I hope that I never have to deliberately work in a film because it is going to enhance an image which is the concept of the media or anybody else.
The way in which Sarkar Raj ended, the story of the Nagre family seems to continue. Is a sequel on the rounds?
Sarkar Raj had a very strong and committed ending. Yes, there has been a loss of life, disturbance in the family. But the family must survive because life goes on. That’s the point at which it was culminated. Whether or not it’s going to see a sequel is going to be Ram Gopal Varma’s call.
On a personal level would you like the Sarkar series to continue to a third installment?
I don’t think so. But if Ram Gopal Varma thinks very strongly about it then yes, we will go ahead
How do you feel being offered the best of roles even at this age?
I don’t know if I am getting the best of roles. But it’s nice to be getting some roles.
Well we are quite sure that even today many characters are consciously written with you in mind
Well, I am very grateful to filmmakers for having faith in me. I hope I do justice to their roles. I hope I remain healthy to be able to work. I love my work. And I think for an artist, at least for me, I love the idea of getting up in the morning and going to work. I am happy that there are some people who think of me favourably.
Any particular film or character of yours that is very close to your heart?
Well that would be very difficult to answer. I will have to disclose something that is more intimate to me which I am not sure I would want to do. But yes I would like to believe that all the films I do have interesting characters and that they are different. At this age we have the advantage of getting diverse roles, roles that perhaps we would never have attempted to do even when we were younger. But it’s wonderful to see the evolution of the way Indian cinema has progressed. Our progress is reflected by the progress of the common man that goes to see our films. And I have to say that the audiences have brought in the change that we see today in Indian cinema. It is they who have dictated to us – this is what we like and this is what we don’t like. And when they do not like we don’t attempt to make it.
If today Sarkar Raj is being accepted, it is the genre which normally is not the usual escapist commercial cinema. It is dark, grim, intense, has no song and dance and is totally contrary to what general opinion about what commercial Hindi cinema is. But if you see the patronage it has, it speaks a lot about the audience in our country. They are willing to see such cinema and go ahead and patronize it.
You have become a lot more popular these days with your blogs.
This is a medium that I was unaware of and once I did come to know, I thought it was wonderful to be able to talk to your fans and people who want to communicate with you on a direct level rather than go through another medium. It was instant, immediate and it covered the entire universe. It’s wonderful to be able to express my opinions, thoughts, feelings and get reactions from fans, well-wishers or not-so-well-wishers. They are like a guideline for me. It’s sometimes believed that artists get cocooned and live within the confines of their own little world. They don’t know what’s going on outside. This medium actually opens this out for me and I get to see expressions and words and know more about people and what they think about us or our life or situations that happen in the country. It’s been a very revealing experience.
Has it been a very healthy experience?
Not all of it is very good and healthy. There is a lot of abuse and criticism which is welcome. Because, if I open the doors of my house, I must welcome everything. I read all of it, write all of it myself. I do not predetermine what I am going to write but when I sit to write, whatever comes to my mind at that moment, I put it into words. It’s a fantastic medium because there are many sides of the people who watch your films and tell what they think of it. And all this is immediate. And I am just so happy to have been made aware of this medium now. It has been a great eye-opener.
Will you continue with blogging or is it just a passing phase?
I hope I am able to continue with it. It’s a little tedious. It’s almost like a daily commitment that you make to yourself and your fans. I feel many of them wait to read my blog at the end of the day and therefore I would not want them to keep waiting. As soon as I finish this interview, I will go and start writing a blog. It’s almost like sitting across the table and talking to them.
Amitabh Bachchan has always been perceived as a modest person. Would you agree that the blog has got out the aggressive side of you?
This is a fallacy. You will have to explain what do you mean by modesty. Just because I keep quiet doesn’t necessarily mean that I am modest. Just because I talk, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I am aggressive. If there is a clarification or a point of view which I feel strongly about, all I am saying is that now I have a medium through which I may do so. It may be distressing to some that I do that but then this is a free country and I should be having an opportunity to do that. If blog is the medium that I can use, then I will. That is my right as an individual.
1 comment:
Just thought I would comment and say great theme, did you code it for yourself? Really looks excellent!.
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