Bollywood2000.com | TODAYS FEATURE

LAST UPDATED: Jul.  04, 2001

He was a superstar with a capital S and still retains the craze. Amitabh Bachchan fans simply adored him, and still do.

Filmmakers conducted blood sacrifices at his altar on full moon nights. His co-stars revelled in his stardom. Such was (is!!) the magic of this legendary actor.

However, the only place where he didn't draw a full house was with his own children, when they were kids. Some of these incidents will throw light on the same…

Abhishek’s first performance
It was Annual Day and both Shweta and Abhishek were acting in different plays. Abhishek puffed his little chest out, fixed his father with a piercing eye, and announced: “I'm the greatest actor there is!! Better than even you! Aaj shaam ko aap ki chhutti kar doonga!"

The day was full of hustle-bustle as the entire Bachchan household prepared for the big performance. Amitabh, who was shooting three shifts those days and was known to never cancel any of them, came home early from work; a little anxious of his son’s debut. For the first time, an otherwise cool and confident Jaya was nervous as hell!

The only person who was extremely confident and sure of himself was Abhishek. In fact, he was trying to ease Shweta's nervousness by teasing her with: “What's the big deal?”

The show finally began. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the stage. It was Shweta’s turn first. She was competent enough with her brief part and got a good round of applause. Of course, papa Bachchan clapped the loudest.

Later, the Bachchan entourage sat up, crossed their fingers and waited for the Heir Ap-papa-rent. Abhishek strode on stage majestically confident of himself. The audience was enthralled. After the curtains went down, there was an appreciative, pulse-pounding silence before the entire audience burst into waves upon waves of applause. Abhishek had carried the day through. Amitabh sat silently, dumbstruck at his prodigious son even as a tear rolled down his cheek. It was the first time Bachchan had displayed any emotion off-screen and that too publicly.

Bosky, Shweta and angry, young kid Abhishek
The Bachchan clan was in Mysore for the shooting of Mard. So were Gulzar and daughter Bosky. At the end of a hard day's work when everyone was relaxing in the Bachchan suite, the kids got down to aping the adults and wanted to play “filmmaking”. They agreed that they would enact the day's scenes.

Bosky, quickly stepping into her father’s shoes, said that she'd be the “director”. Things were not going smoothly with the Bachchan kids though. Both wanted to be Amitabh Bachchan.

Shweta growled: "I'll be Amitabh Bachchan. You will be Bharat Bhushan."
Abhishek growled back "No way ! I'll be Amitabh Bachchan. And anyway who is this Bharat Bhushan?"

Fortunately, Bosky had seen old films of Bhushan on video and as the befitting “director,” she explained the role to Abhishek.

Once he'd got the hang of it, it was agreed that they'd take turns at playing Amitabh and Shweta would go first. Abhishek was unhappy about it and sulked for a while. Director Bosky shouted "Lights, camera, action!" and Amitabh (Shweta) and Bharat (a disgruntled Abhishek) went through their roles with professional ease.

When Abhishek began playing Amitabh, he wreaked vengeance. He got into the “angry young man” character full blow and began bashing poor Shweta while a nervous director (Bosky) repeatedly shouted "cut." But Abhishek was so angry at being 'cast' as Bharat Bhushan that he saw no reason until the real angry young Dad, Amitabh, intervened and seperated the two.

Papa, don’t preach!
In Bombay (now Mumbai), during Amitabh's sojourn at the hospital after the accident, Abhishek read a daily newspaper's shocking headline that Amitabh was planning to quit films.

“Heir” standing on end, Abhishek ran to his mother Jaya and asked: " Mom, is it true that the ‘old man’ is planning to retire?" Jaya said it was. "Then what will he DO?" asked an agitated Abhishek. Jaya answered: "Oh, he'll probably stay at home." A visibly perturbed Abhishek called out to his sister Shweta in the other room: "Didi, did you hear? Very soon the 'old man' is going to be sitting at home all day!"

When Amitabh returned home that night a 10-year-old Abhishek had a man-to-man talk with his father: "Don't worry Dad. I'm there to take care of you, Mom and Didi. I don't mind you staying at home too but promise me one thing. When you do sit at home you won’t ask me to do my homework and you won't scold me!"

Decades have passed since. A still-going-very-strong Amitabh Bachchan has still not been allowed to hang up his boots. The “old man” is giving the younger men sleepless nights even as he immortalized himself in wax and now has a temple made with him as deity, or with his acting prowess compelling his fellow actors to do a bit of “home-work.”