An Exclusive Interview With Amitabh Bachchan

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You're being honoured again at Marrakech this year?
That's right. The Marrakech festival is from October 2-9. I'm being honoured along with eight or nine other film personalities, including French actor Alain Delon and the American director Oliver Stone.
The most interesting part of this year's festival is that I've been asked to select four of my favourite films from the entire gamut of Hindi cinema. I've chosen Guru Dutt's "Kaagaz Ke Phool", Satyajit Ray's "Jalasagar", Govind Nihalani's "Ardh Satya" and Ram Gopal Varma's "Satya".
These films have impressed me deeply. I sat down with some of my close friends and chose these films. In fact "Jalasaghar" was Jaya's choice.

  Morocco keeps beckoning you?
Yes, there's a huge following for Hindi cinema. I realised how crazy they were about our cinema when I was walking down Leicester Square one day many years ago. I was desperately hungry, so I walked into a pizza parlour.
There was a huge queue and I was at the back. Suddenly one of the staffers held my hand and took me inside and put me on a table.
I soon realised the place was run by Moroccans and they all knew me. Whenever I go to Paris, Cairo or London I'm overwhelmed by the Moroccans' love for our cinema. Two years ago, the king of Morocco gave me the medal of honour.

  How do you feel about "Boom"?
It's a really wacky work. Totally tongue-in-cheek. I had a great deal of fun shooting for "Boom".
We shot in a hotel, the Burj al-Arab in Dubai, which is the last word in opulence. Oh my God, it'd unbelievable! And it was my character's adda (haunt).
We shot "Boom" in every possible corner of that hotel. We even shot Bo Derek coming out of the water just like in the film "10". My character loves that film because he likes to see Bo Derek coming out of the water. I had to run after her just like Dudley Moore in "10". The whole film is a spoof.

  Is it true you've taken the "Boom" producers to court?
Yes I have. I had gone to court because I hadn't been paid. It's quite a substantial sum. I waited for a year. I sympathised with their financial problems. But my financial department felt I should be paid.
Fortunately now they've come to me and agreed to pay my remuneration in two instalments, one before and one after release.

  Your old colleague Zeenat Aman is also in 'Boom'.
That's right. She plays my secretary. It was great fun teaming up with her again. And then I've another old colleague, Hema Malini, in "Baaghban", my next release.

  You had some very complimentary things to say about her.
Oh yes. She's looking unbelievable. When I said she looks like (her real life daughter) Esha's younger sister in the film I meant it.
"Baaghban" and "Boom" belong to two different planets. "Boom" is really way out. (Director) Kaizad Gustad is his own man. He's technically very proficient.
"Baaghban" is more emotional and more family-oriented. It's a comment on today's fragmenting joint-family system.

  How did Aadesh Shrivastava persuade you to sing as many as four songs in "Baaghban"?
You know I don't like to sing. But Aadesh and I are friends. He's like family. Whenever I'm despondent I walk across to his music room. We sit and sing folks songs from our hometown, Allahabad, for hours. I feel very comfortable with him.
One music expert in a newspaper says I'm atrocious at singing and that I should stick to acting. If you think I've done well, it's all because of those wonderful recording gadgets. They can make anyone sound good!
You know, I was tricked into singing for "Baaghban". Aadesh just told me to try some songs out for a lark. While I was doing so, he recorded my voice, and didn't even tell me about it.
But to be honest, I enjoyed it. The Holi song is what I heard my father sing from when I was four years old. I had given another Holi song from Uttar Pradesh to "Silsila".

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