Age is Just a Number

Bachchan,in the film,is also seen riding a Harley Davidson motorbike which,the actor says,made him nervous at first. “I’ve never been much of a biker and this is the first time I rode such a heavy-duty machine. I got it right after some practice in traffic,” he recollected,“But now I know why people enjoy riding powerful machines — it gives you such a sense of being in control.”

The actor has yet again lent his voice to the title track of the film. However,this time,he has gone a step ahead and performed it a-capella style,producing sounds of the guitar and drums. But Bachchan brushes all the credit away by calling it machine-aided. “These days you have such fabulous technology that it can convert a screech into a guitar strum and make a terrible singer like me sound good,” he laughed.

Though he has done solo-hero roles in the past with Cheeni Kum and Nishabd,Bbuddah… sees him return as the much-loved classic hero of Indian cinema. Recounting what made him sign the movie on besides the script,he said,“After I returned to films,most of the roles I was being offered were rather sublime,submissive and of a weaker man. And I’d heard many people say that they didn’t want to see me this way. That stayed with me and when I read the script,I considered it a great opportunity to return in a different avatar.”

However,the 67-year-old actor also feels that on the flip side,age has had its advantage. “In the early part of my career,I was expected to be aggressive,bash up villains,woo the girl and perform the routine. But now,there is much more variety. Most of my roles have been challenging,be it in Cheeni Kum,Paa,Nishabd or Aag,even though some didn’t go down well with the audience. I wouldn’t have had a chance to do these roles early on.”

(Detailed coverage follows in Screen issue dated July 1)