Sky's the limit for this star son

He has his father’s height, his smile and his confidence but this star son is definitely his own man. Despite the obvious high expectations from him since he is Amitabh's son and is debuting close on the heels of Hrithik Roshan’s mega success, Abhishek Bachchan is cool and collected.

In Ahmedabad for a music preview of his upcoming film Refugee along with co-star Kareena Kapoor and director J P Dutta, Abhishek says he was never under any pressure while on a shoot despite the obvious comparisons. "I thought I would feel pressured, but it wasn’t so. I kept in mind what my father always told me - that whatever I should do, I should do it with total sincerity and commitment.

"Besides, why should I mind if people compare me with my father. I am proud to be my father’s son and after all they are comparing me with the best," he asserts. It was Kareena, another star daughter and Karishma Kapoor’s sibling, who in fact showed signs of nerves.

In Refugee, Abhishek plays a courier illegally transporting people across the border. He said that though he had signed the film only because Dutta was the director and without having read the script, he was very happy with the kind of film it had turned out to be. "I did riot not want to make a debut as a teenage heart-throb. This is what I would call a noble film. And the serious theme won’t hamper its prospects at the box office."

Kareena too said she did not regret her exit from ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’, stating that she wanted to be different. On competition from her already very successful sister, Kareena said, "If you see the film you will realise that we are both very different. So there is no question of competition or rivalry between us." Abhishek, who rates Agnipath as the best of all his father’s films, admits that he looks up to his father but does not want to step into his angry young man image. "I would like to work more, mature as an actor and do diverse roles; not fit into any stereotype," he declared. Asked about his equally famous mother Jaya’s best films, he said he liked all the films in which she acted with his father.

Director Dutta admitted that he had made Abhishek do his father’s famous dance steps in the film to show that at least a part of his father in him. However, Abhishek admitted that he was not at all comfortable dancing.

Dutta was all praise for Abhishek as an actor and said that since both his lead actors belonged to a filmi background, it had given them an edge over the others. "I did not have to do more than two or three takes with Abhishek at any point," he said. He also said Abhishek had a flair for comedy which, according to him, was the most essential characteristic of a really good actor. Refugee is likely to be released next month.

Republished from Indian Express