Exclusive: Big B on comeback

Amitabh Bachchan is back to work and all is right with the Hindi film world. This week, the man who has come to personify the film industry, was promoting its cause -- IIFA Awards. In keeping with the tradition, the IIFA Awards will be held in Dubai this year. The Big B talks about IIFA, the Hindi film industry and about himself in an exclusive interview with Anuradha SenGupta.

Anuradha SenGupta: Mr Bachchan, it's IIFA time. Back home, we are used to seeing the awards, all the glitz and the glamour when we watch the awards in TV. What does it mean for you and the film fraternity, those two days or three days that you get to spend in foreign land with foreign people showcasing your art?

Amitabh Bachchan: Well, personally I think it's a wonderful opportunity for the Indian film industry and the fraternity to come together. We are together here. But, we seldom get an opportunity to interact, to be together at one place and not really running off to studios or discussing film scripts and so on and so forth.

I look at it as a great opportunity where we are all together in a foreign land away from home. And the entire film industry spending quality time just going out and doing things, -- very normal things like going to restaurants or walking on the streets and, you know, sitting in each other's hotel room without a care and worry.

It's a great opportunity and I think primarily that one thing excites me, apart form the other business of the celebration of Indian cinema outside and the fact that there's an award ceremony and there are events and business forums and so on and so forth.

Anuradha SenGupta: In fact, beginning with the UK, the IIFA has traversed South Africa, the Netherlands, Singapore and Malaysia. How pervasive is the soft power of Indian cinema you think?

Amitabh Bachchan: I think there are certain statistics and facts, which I am sure the organisers will give you. But everywhere that IIFA has been, surprisingly it has developed interest for Indian Cinema, not just from expatriates but the locals, whether they are the South Africans or whether they are Singaporeans or the Dutch or whether they are British and hopefully whether they are Arabs. It has increased telecast, viewers have actually ended up going as tourists to these places.

So, tourism has gone up. Ticket sale for movies has gone up. In the Netherlands, for example, now we have a designated theatre, which is going to be showing Indian films. So, I think there is an opening created every time IIFA goes to a particular country.

Anuradha SenGupta: Is there an anecdote? Well there may be many. I am trying to make you isolate one or two where it really came home the power of cinema or the power of Hindi movies.

Amitabh Bachchan: Yeah, I mean it's evident in every country that we go to even if say 60 to 70 per cent of the audience or the people that react to the IIFA or go there are of Indian origin or Indians. The fact that there are 30 per cent or 20 per cent who are locals, who have no knowledge of Indian cinema, but are still having a similar kind of reaction whether it is the adulation or screaming and shouting, whether it is wanting to come and attend the award ceremony or whether it’s appreciating a film, that's really quite amazing.

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Anuradha SenGupta: You know, it's really thrilling when you are watching a British film like ‘My Summer of Love,’ you hear cursorily the radios playing in a car with two protagonists who have nothing to do with India and it's Asha Bhosle's ‘Dum Maro Dum’ playing. Or you see the ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ and again you say, ‘Is that what I am hearing’ and it is actually a Hindi song.

Amitabh Bachchan: Yes, it's surprising that you say that because I was watching a Spanish film by Pablo, the famous director.

There was this sequence in a restaurant where the lead players just walked in there and there's Hindi film music playing in the restaurant. I was very surprised. So, you know it is percolating.

Anuradha SenGupta: It is thrilling, isn't it?

Amitabh Bachchan: Yes it is extremely thrilling.

Anuradha SenGupta: Is Hindi cinema/Indian cinema then on the brink of achieving what Hollywood has done for the USA, which is this cultural and global -- I won't use the word imperialism but you know – or just taking the world stage and leading.

Amitabh Bachchan: Yeah, I hope it does, even if you want to call it imperialism. Because it is obviously not going to be imperialistic in the true sense of the word. But if it's able to percolate markets and regions where there is a huge clientele, so much the better for us. I do feel in some respect it already has. I do believe that if statistics are to be believed, the viewers’ numbers is far greater for Hindi cinema than it is for Hollywood. I think it's 3.1 to 3.6 or something like that.

Anuradha SenGupta: You love dropping these numbers, don't you?

Amitabh Bachchan: No I don't. It's because it's so exciting.

Anuradha SenGupta: Yes you do. I've heard you at several speeches.

Amitabh Bachchan: But you know, this is really very valuable.

Anuradha SenGupta: It's like Narayan Murthi says, always take data to substantiate an argument.

Amitabh Bachchan: Well, I haven't heard him saying that and I'm not even trying to imitate him, but when something like this is brought to your notice, it really puts the subject under a different perspective.

Suddenly you begin to think, hey that might be true. Hollywood is now the second largest exporter for USA after aeroplanes. But it doesn't make the same number of movies as India does. We are the largest movie-making country in the world, but we are nowhere near those export figures. So, why not we should aim for that?

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Anuradha SenGupta: The other is, given the fact that IIFA will be in its seventh year now -- it started in 2000 -- should this scope not be broadened from Hindi cinema to include Indian cinema, or is that operationally a difficult thing?

Amitabh Bachchan: No, that's a very valid point and some of our board meetings that we've had right since the initiation has discussed these points. Indian cinema is not just about Hindi cinema, there are so many valuable cinemas as well. There's Bengal, there's Gujarat, Andhra.

Anuradha SenGupta: And Bhojpuri, which you are leading from the front.

Amitabh Bachchan: And Punjab, Kerala and Karnataka, you know it's huge. I think it's a fallacy to believe that Hindi cinema makes the largest number of films. It’s actually Telugu. And their business and commercial projections are also comparatively much greater than Hindi cinema. It's just that Hindi cinema has somehow achieved a more universal look, reaches out to a lot many number of people and because of the language bindings with other cinema, it has remained regionalised. But yes, we do want to do that. We do attempt to bring in Indian cinema in all its aspects from all other regions of the country. We want to honour people who have given very valuable service to that particular kind of cinema. And yes we will be able to include them in our event shortly, perhaps in the next IIFA. That is in the process right now.

Anuradha SenGupta: Something to look forward to?

Amitabh Bachchan: Yes, certainly.

Anuradha SenGupta: From a showpiece performance in ‘Black’ to a trademark one in ‘Bunty Aur Bubli’ to my favourite, the tautly understated performance in ‘Sarkar’, Amitabh Bachchan starred in three of the top five Hindi films of 2005. The star has found the actor again, and he is crediting the winds of change and the young blood coursing through the film industry for what we see.

What would you say is the state of Hindi Cinema 2006?

Amitabh Bachchan: I think it's a wonderful phase and I think we are doing remarkably well. Each year the so-called Pundits of the industry call it the year of doom, but it's actually the year of boom, because entertainment is just going through the ceiling. Content is king, we all know that. Indian cinema and Hindi cinema produce content, which is used in television and telephony, home entertainment, just about everywhere.

It's great time, but what is really exciting for me as a creative person involved in the Hindi cinema is the rise of the new generation. It’s the rise and the awareness of the youngsters. The maturing of the audiences of the country for having the intelligence to be able to decipher what kind of cinema they are going to watch.

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And it's exciting to see their fingers and their eyes are pointing towards an area, which is very progressive, which is not wanting to take anything which is sub-standard. Where they are looking for a qualitative improvement in the product. That's very exciting and that's what is driving the new generation into perfecting the art even further to be able to compete with the rest of the world. To be able to compete with the so-called progressive Western world and be able to say 'we are no less than them.'

Anuradha SenGupta: And you are in an unique position, aren't you? As the generation change is happening you are still at the helm.

Amitabh Bachchan: Yeah, not for long. But yes, God has been kind.

Anuradha SenGupta: You say that with great pride. Now because you see the mantle passing on to Abhishek Bachchan, isn't it?

Amitabh Bachchan: Well yes, I'll be very happy. As a father of course, I'd love that. Yes, God has been kind and given me an opportunity to see several generations and still be a part of it, a small part but all the same I at least observe this great energy and this great desire to excel and to do something different.

Anuradha SenGupta: And the new directors you just mentioned are working with you. You are now doing ‘our ad-man’, we like to call him ‘our ad-man’, Balki's film Chheeni Kam. When you are working with new and younger people, are they in awe of you or are they very demanding taskmasters?

Amitabh Bachchan: This is a question which is very difficult for me to answer. It's really something that should be put to them. But I think for any artiste, once he takes on a project, he has to decide on his mind that’s going to be the captain of the ship. I'd like to believe in the directors and, therefore, the artistes must submit himself entirely to the director. Thereafter, it's really quite simple.

Anuradha SenGupta: And you have always done that, haven't you?

Amitabh Bachchan: Yes, I'd like to believe that I have.

Anuradha SenGupta: Saif Ali Khan, who I met recently, said something very interesting and I thought that was a wonderful observation to make. He was talking about where he is in life and how he is approaching the movies and his art and craft and he says the lesson is Mr Bachchan, because no matter what is surrounding him, no matter what the final product is, he has gone in there, into that shot and he is giving it 100 per cent. He is not questioning, he is not doubting, he is not saying it could be better. He is just saying this is what I can do best and I am doing it. Do you agree with his observation?

Amitabh Bachchan: I am not exactly able to follow what you are saying, but I'd like to believe that every artiste once he goes in front of the camera is giving 100 per cent. I mean that's what is expected of him. You don't work in a project because you are going to give 60 per cent here and you are going to give 70 per cent there. I'd like to believe that all of us, once the camera is on, are on 100 per cent.

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Anuradha SenGupta: But is that difficult to do because I may be working in a project which I can see after having gotten into is not something I wanted to do?

Amitabh Bachchan: Well, then I think you lack sincerity and you disrespect your craft. No artiste wants to do them.

Anuradha SenGupta: I think that's what he was trying to say, which I tried to paraphrase so clumsily.

Amitabh Bachchan: Yes, if you are in the business and if you are in the craft, and you respect yourself and you respect your craft, then you give it 100 per cent. Irrespective of the fact that you may sometime feel that the things are not going right

Anuradha SenGupta: Sony is producing a Hindi film. Disney says it will make three films. Paramount has expressed interest. Has it been a long time coming. Or do you think this is now the turning point, which is when Hollywood or Western studios start seeing the Hindi film industry as being transparent and easy to monitor.

Amitabh Bachchan: Yeah, I'd like to go back to 1993 when I spent a couple of years in New York. I took a sabbatical and I was just wandering and I used to receive mails from some of these large entertainment corporates addressed to me, expressing a desire to want to come and meet me. I was a bit surprised as to why they were doing that and why they would have interest in me. But on occasions when I did meet them, they seemed to have an unbelievably perfect record of my entire life, my entire career on the film industry in India and each and every detail was just packed on their hands and in their communications. I was really surprised.

And I said why and how did you do this. And they said, it's an interesting aspect. First of all, because you are the largest film-making nation in the world and we want to look at it and analyse it, and thereafter every communication that came from them was subtitled - India the new frontier.

And I think when I did make my corporate company ABCL at that time in 1995, this was the vision and the brief that I gave them. I said: “Guys, get your act together because in 10 years the Americans are going to come here.” That's what is happening, this is nothing new. It's not rocket science. They have the money, they have the expertise, they would want to come here. They do not know the content, therefore they would want to hold hands with us and help them make content, which can be exploited by them. They are excellent at marketing, they have the funds, they have fantastic facilities of distribution, which is an area which we lack. They have tremendous accountability. And all these factors go to make an enterprise, which is really going to be beneficial for both of us.

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Anuradha SenGupta: Is the time just perfect now or is it still some way off you think for these companies to get into the picture?

Amitabh Bachchan: I think it's perfect because Indian cinema and India per se has got a huge amount of interest and visibility in the rest of the world. I have always maintained that when a country progresses economically, everything about it becomes popular, becomes good. So, because we have liberalisation, our economy is growing at an unbelievable rate. The whole world is looking at us. They like our food, they like our dress, they like our film, they like everything about us.

Anuradha SenGupta: But in terms of the film industry’s ability to cope, is that in place you think?

Amitabh Bachchan: Yeah, why not.

Anuradha SenGupta: It is?

Amitabh Bachchan: Oh yes, certainly.

Anuradha SenGupta:While reports now peg the film industry's worth at Rs 68 billion and reams are written on how it can scale up, Amitabh Bachchan had tried it first 11 years ago. But ABCL’s flop was as colossal as its vision. AB Corp is now trying to rise Phoenix-like as Amitabh Bachchan has from the ashes.

Will there be a paradigm shift in the industry now with the entry of businessmen of the stature and scale of Anil Ambani, who is also a close associate of yours. Do you see that

now giving the industry an ability to sort of get into another level?

Amitabh Bachchan: I think it's very welcome. The whole concept of my corporation at that point of time was to corporatise film then, to bring in accountability, to have a proper planning, to have professionals looking at this industry because it has a huge scope and value. So we welcome all this, because this is eventually where it will all go, and I see it happening. I see the way the younger generation is working, how they plan, how they methodically work out each and every strain of the process of filmmaking. It's a remarkable experience and it's so wonderful for me to see this because I have seen what used to happen 30 years ago and now be able to not just observe it but be a part of it. It's fantastic.

Anuradha SenGupta:You mentioned ABCL. In 95 when you launched ABCL and 2003 when you relaunched AB Corp or launched AB Corp….

Amitabh Bachchan: We didn't relaunch anything, the company was still there. Instead of calling it Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited, we said it’s AB Corp. Just another name.

Anuradha SenGupta: Since then there has been a great change in the way you are doing business, isn't it? In a sense, post-1995, when the announcement was made, there was a lot of public announcement and things like that. And after 2003, everything that the AB Corp is doing is slow and steady and sort of without much fanfare.

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Amitabh Bachchan: Well, I think, you know, there was a lot of scepticism. When we launched the company, there was apprehension. It was something new, it was something novel and it was something that certainly wasn't too welcome with the industry, because the industry for generations survived on more like a mama-papa operation, surviving on individual interests. Individuals have been responsible, so one member of the family is doing directions, the other is doing productions, the wife is looking after the kitchen and the feeding, all these things happen.

So whenever something new happens, people get a little cynical about it and say, “Ah, don't know what this is going to do and how can you make a film wearing a suit.” But I think having learnt from that mistake and having learnt from the failures of that experiment, yes we now want to tread very cautiously, but correctly and make sure whatever move we make, even though it's a small babystep, we put it in the right place.

Anuradha SenGupta: Not going public any time soon?

Amitabh Bachchan: Yes we do.

Anuradha SenGupta:And that's it. You are not going to say anything more of course.

Amitabh Bachchan: I'm not permitted to.

Anuradha SenGupta: For that, we have to talk to the captain.

Amitabh Bachchan: Yeah, probably.

Anuradha SenGupta: Okay, I know how reticent you are. I know how every breath you take is scrutinised and analysed and yet I am going to ask you a few questions and I hope you'll say, “Lord Forgive her, she knows not what she does. Or she does what she has to do” whatever you wish. Between November and March, when you were recuperating, what did you do with your time?

Amitabh Bachchan: I studied medical reports and looked after my income tax and spent time with the family, that's it.

Anuradha SenGupta: On your 60th birthday, Jaya Bachchan came out with the book which was called To Be Or Not To Be Amitabh Bachchan. Is that a question?

Amitabh Bachchan: No, that's not, it was just To Be Or Not To Be

Anuradha SenGupta:To Be Or Not To Be and then it has the name below, so I am taking creative licence. Okay To Be Or Not To Be.

Amitabh Bachchan: Yeah.

Anuradha SenGupta: What is the answer to that question?

Amitabh Bachchan: It's just a catchy phrase from Shakespeare.

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Anuradha SenGupta: But your father would have liked you to play Hamlet.

Amitabh Bachchan: Yes, I don't think it's possible now. But Hamlet’s ghost would be more appropriate from me at this age, but there's always hope with Abhishek.

Anuradha SenGupta: Would you say yes if I say the way your life has unfolded before our eyes is almost Shakespearean in its scale.

Amitabh Bachchan: I wouldn't know.

Anuradha SenGupta: You are taking recourse to the film industry's language which is humility and modesty, isn't it?

Amitabh Bachchan: It isn’t. I really don't. How can I judge something like that? It's difficult for individuals to assess themselves and to analyse themselves. I think it's for people like you or others to make an assessment and put it forward and then may be we can react to it, just react.

Anuradha SenGupta: Are you slowing down now? Are you taking a little bit more time for yourself? Because you once said and I read somewhere that some people drink to get high and you work to get a high.

Amitabh Bachchan: Because that's the only thing I do and I only know how to go in front of a camera. So, I would like to pursue that and yes there's a medical history and, therefore, one has to be a little cautious and every few years it comes as a rude reminder to you. I hope it won't be too binding, but yes there's a desire on the part of the medical fraternity and those who look after my system and my body to take it easy.

Anuradha SenGupta: Well Mr Bachchan, we hope you can make them happy, but yourself happier. Thank you.

Amitabh Bachchan: Thanks very much.