The Wonder Years

Amitabh Bachchan,who plays a 13-year-old in his next,Paa,recounts his childhood

My father Harivansh Rai Bachchan,a poet,would spend most of his time in his study amidst his books. My earliest memories of my father involve us all,especially my mother being very conscious of giving him his space. She would ask us to not disturb him. But that never kept him from his children and he would ensure he spent quality time with us.
* While my father came from a small town — Allahabad — my mother,Teji Bachchan,came from an affluent Sikh family from erstwhile Punjab,which is now in Pakistan. Given such varied backgrounds,I feel we had exposure to the best of both the worlds. Due to her convent education,my mother was more modern and outgoing of the two. I will always remember how she would take us out to the theatres and cinema halls or for other cultural happenings to expose us to the various fields of art. And it is from my father that we imbibed our habit of reading and an interest in literature.
* Since my father was a poet,our family had to live on modest budgets. But together,my parents never let us realise that money was ever a problem. We had a very normal childhood,like any of the other children in those times. We would have our regular outings and were encouraged to study. As parents,this is one of their greatest gifts to us.
* For my character in Paa — the 13-year-old Auro— I haven’t drawn much from my childhood since at 67,I can hardly remember how I used to behave when I was 13. But in the dance that Auro does in the film with his mother,he is seen jumping around in puddles of water. That is one thing common between Auro and my childhood.

Paa talk
* The decision to produce Paa was Abhishek Bachchan’s. Since the movie storyline is unique and the casting has a novel idea,Abhishek wanted to own the production rights.
* ABCL wanted to complete Paa in a Rs 15 crore-budget and they managed to do so. However,no compromises were made and the film has been shot in Bangkok,London,New Delhi and Mumbai and had international makeup artistes on board to design and execute Auro’s look.
* To ensure that when Amitabh Bachchan spoke,it didn’t give away his trademark baritone,he used a special denture that would make him sound different. He is giving all radio interviews with his dentures on even though it is painful.
* If Bachchan was given one wish that could come true,he would ask for a chance to be able to work with great filmmakers like Bimal Roy,Guru Dutt and Satyajit Ray.

As told to Dipti Nagpaul-D’souza