“I believe the greatest reward for any actor is the acceptance of his creativity,” says Amitabh Bachchan in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE at The “I’M FORTUNATE Venetian, Macau. (Inset) In a still from Zanjeer (1973) with Jaya Bachchan (then Bhaduri). I GET WORK TO DO” DOWNPLAYING HIS 40 YEARS IN THE HINDI FILM INDUSTRY, AMITABH BACHCHAN RELIVES MEMORIES, REFUSES TO PLAY THE NO. 1 GAME AND DOFFS HIS HAT TO HIS YOUNGER CONTEMPORARIES BY KARISHMA UPADHYAY EXCLUSIVE THE VENETIAN, MACAU, MAY 9 68 June 19, 2009 PEOPLE Photograph by RAJAN CHAUGHULE/PEOPLE PEOPLE June 19, 2009 69 ressed casu- live minutes away from each other ally in black but never get the opportunity to meet tracks and a each other. IIFA brings everyone hooded jack- together. Like Dharamji [Dharmen- et as he walks dra], Ajay-Kajol, Yashji [Yash Cho- into The Venetian in Macau on May 8, pra] and Hemaji [Hema Malini] live Bollywood’s most enduring superstar behind me but we meet only if we are doesn’t in any way call attention to doing a fi lm together. IIFA builds the himself. But it doesn’t take much to kind of atmosphere where you can sit turn passers-by and hotel guests into in a restaurant or shop together. starstruck fans. As Amitabh Bachchan Award ceremonies have changed down signs an autograph for two Chinese the decades — as has the fi lm industry. ladies in the foyer, another Israeli What do you attribute your longevity in guest makes a bet with his Azerbaijani the industry to? friend that he could name the actor’s I’m just fortunate that I get work to fi lms in alphabetical order. Nearby, do. And, I guess people like what I do. a Nepali guard, part of Bachchan’s Either that or they are pretending to security detail, sings ‘Neela Aasma like what I do. It’s bound to end some So Gaya’ under his breath. time. It’s just taking a little longer for In Macau to announce the 10th me and I’m happy with that. If I have International Indian Film Academy the health and the energy, I’d wish to Awards venue, it’s clear that no other continue. star is quite as ‘international’ as the Is there such a thing as a retirement age Big B himself. And with 170 Hindi for you? fi lms over the last 40 years, none as I hope not. I doubt if any creative per- prolifi c either. But he brushes aside son would want to accept that possi- the No. 1 status accorded to him by the bility. I think creative people would industry. “I hope that people are hap- perish if they were told, ‘This is it’. py with my work and the way I have Every morning when I set out from conducted my life. That’s all that mat- the house, there is a sense of anticipa- ters,” he says. And even while looking tion and a fear of how the day will turn back, the 66-year-old is thinking for- out to be; whether I would deliver ward. “I’d wish to continue [working]. what is expected of me. Every morning when I set out from On the day you completed 40 years in the house, there is a sense of anticipa- the fi lm industry, did you celebrate? tion and fear…would I deliver what is (Clockwise) Reaching out to Ironically, I was at an award ceremo- expected of me?” fans at the 2008 IIFA Awards in ny. I was being awarded at the Star- Bangkok; with Jaya Bachchan and dust Awards for The Last Lear. It was Yash Chopra at the same event; In this 10th year of IIFA Awards, with Aishwarya and Abhishek at exactly on that day [Feb. 15] in 1969 as its brand ambassador, what is IIFA Awards in 2007 in Yorkshire. when I got my fi rst fi lm contract. A it about the awards that make copy should be there somewhere in CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS you feel proud to be associated my paperwork. It was very nostalgic. with it? You didn’t win the Filmfare Madhuri Tal- Unlike other awards where ent Contest. Looking back, do you see winners are chosen by a select “IIFA brings everyone the hand of destiny putting you through committee or by sending out failure for a purpose? forms to the public to vote, together. Like Dharamji, I don’t know. One of the winners was in IIFA, the industry votes a relative of Rahul Rawail and anoth- CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS which [makes it] very per- CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS Ajay-Kajol, Yashji and er was one of Feroz Khan’s brothers. sonalised. Hemaji live behind me They got opportunities to work ear- The other reason is that lier than someone like me who had to we celebrate it outside India, but we meet only if we go door-to-door and sell himself. But, and that gives us the oppor- are doing a fi lm together” in the end, this was fated for me. tunity to talk about Indian Which of your movies do you like going cinema. We all work in the back to? same industry, [some of us] CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS CREDITS I see them on TV once in a while but 70 June 19, 2009 PEOPLE Photographs by NAME OF PEOPLE June 19, 2009 71 I’ve never bought a DVD of my fi lms. Bachchan poses outside The other day I was watching the IPL a producer’s offi ce three years before he and while surfi ng we came across Dee- signed his fi rst fi lm Saat waar, so I sat down and watched the Hindustani in 1969. fi lm for a bit. Do you feel a karmic connection to the name Vijay? Human nature is that you tend to go back to things that have been success- ful. Recently, when Ramu [Ram Gopal Varma] told me the name of my char- In 1999, BBC declared Sholay (1975) acter in Rann, I suggested that he add the ‘Film of The Millennium’. Vijay to the name. So, my character is called Vijay Harshvardhan Malik. He seemed to like it and we had a good laugh over it. If you had to join the fi lms today, do you think this too thin, too lanky, too intense man would have had a chance? In the year that I came in, being too tall and thin was a disqualifi cation. My equivalent in today’s times is Deewaar (1975) swept Abhishek. Physically he resembles the Filmfare Awards me, but the only diff erence is that he with seven wins though Bachchan didn’t win in came from a family that has been in the Best Actor category. the fi lm industry. So, he did have the advantage of ‘fi rst notice’ but there- after he was on his own. I think there are many who are tall, young and handsome and have done well in the industry. Is there any movie that you have seen lately where you felt — yes, now that is a role that I would have loved to have At the muhurat done? ) of Trishul (1978 Oh, several. I have marvelled at many with Shashi of the films that have been made Kapoor and director Yash recently. Both Naseer’s and Anupam’s Chopra (centre). roles in A Wednesday were brilliant. Imran’s debut fi lm Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na was so cute and wonderful. Taare Zameen Par was such a simple sub- ject and Aamir expanded it into such a marvellous fi lm. Shah Rukh’s Om Shanti Om was full of glamour and light-heartedness. It reminded me of the days of Manmohan Desai. Aamir Khan says you are No. 1. Shah Rukh says that by the sheer number of years you have put in, you are No. 1. Who do you think is No. 1? JAGDISH AURANGABADKAR (5) On the sets of Coolie I hate categorisations. It’s not fair. (1983) with Puneet Issar and Manmohan For me, it reeks of our past where Desai after the we categorised people into castes. infamous accident. We shouldn’t do that. Let’s not cat- egorise who is the best, who is No. 1, 72 June 19, 2009 PEOPLE Amar Singh, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Anil Kapoor at the Stardust Awards in February. With Aamir Khan at the launch of Bachchanalia on Jan. 3. “Aamir fi red me when I told him I saw TZP on the plane,” says Bachchan, “He wanted With Shah Rukh Khan Drona premiere to show it to me on the big screen.” at the on Oct. 1, 2008. CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: KIRTI SURVE PARADE/PEOPLE(2); MANAV MANGLANI who is paying the highest tax, or who my father and his works. I have been fessor from Oxford and the foreword is popular and powerful. I believe saying this all along. I’m just fortu- was written by Panditji [Jawarharlal that whether it is Aamir, Shah Rukh, nate that I’m my father’s son. I live Nehru]. We want to print the English Hrithik, Salman or Saif — they are all with his works. I visit them almost translation side-by-side with the orig- very good. They won’t be where they every other day. But, I don’t think I inal Hindi lines. This book will also are today if they weren’t marvellous.