night after the Best Actor National Award for "Paa" is announced, the Big B has hardly slept. His phone's inbox is jammed – he even wrote online that he received more than a thousand SMSes the day the award was announced. Bachchan says, "I'm trying to delete the messages on my phone.
I didn't know the National Awards were going to be announced on Wednesday. My office had put in the applications for the awards. They were keeping an eye. I was resting at home. Abhishek called me in the afternoon. He was shooting far away. He said, 'You've done it.' I heard him and went back to sleep!"
It was only when wife Jaya came to him with the news, that it sank in. "She was very excited, far more so than me. She told me "Paa" had got four National Awards. That was what got me up in a hurry. She was more excited for Abhishek for having won his first National Award, as a producer. Abhishek took us through the film's course, supervising every detail. And then he also acted in the film. I thought he performed very well," he says.
What was his reaction to his own award? "One just hopes there will be directors who will continue to make films. One doesn't work for awards. If my tally of National Awards has gone up to four, I consider myself lucky. The main charm is to find projects that challenge me," replies the Big B. Looking back a day after the win, Amitabh Bachan can't get over the audacity of playing his own son's son! "When Balki came to me with the idea, I laughed out loud. But as an actor, I'm always attracted to something challenging. Once I accepted the challenge of playing Abhishek's son, my problem was, now what? Once the make-up happened, I was convinced I could do it."
But post the National Awards for "Paa", there is talk of bringing Auro back to life for a sequel. However, Bachchan will hear none of it. He says, "First of all, Auro died in the film. So I don't think it's logical to revive him. Secondly, and this is my personal opinion, it does not seem very ethical to commercially extend the reach of a physically challenged character. I think any further commercial exploitation of the theme would be unethical and insensitive."
Apparently, the script that director Balki came to him with was very different from what was finally shot. Concedes Bachchan, "Jaya and I have been working for years with physically challenged children. We support their cause emotionally and financially. Whenever we interact with such children, we are constantly reminded by their teachers and trainers not to sympathise with them. Even the use of the word 'handicapped' is objectionable. Both Balki and I felt we must keep Auro away from being seen as handicapped, because that word is like an abuse."
He adds, "When Balki first narrated the story to me, he had a completely different take on it. I thought that it could be taken to another level. I thought it was the easiest thing in the world to milk the plight of a physically challenge child and evoke sympathy for him. He scrapped his first version completely. The greatness of Balki's final script was that it did not exploit the child's illness. I was keen to show Auro as a happy, normal person."
There were arguments between Bachchan and his director about "Paa's" ending. He says, "I wanted Balki to end the film when Auro from his deathbed smiles at his father and dies. But Balki wanted to continue the story. He wanted Auro smiling, laughing and dancing at the end."
Even as the fourth National award rolls into Big B's life, he gets ready to spend the next few months on the Hot Seat for " Kaun Banega Crorepati." It's a melee of excited guests, phone calls, and messages at Jalsa, the Bachchans' residence. But he says, "I don't work for awards. I think I am driven by the desire to get more and more opportunities. We have very intelligent young filmmakers. I hope they continue to pose challenges for me. At this age, it is a little tough. Balki is working on something that will again take me to another level." For now, the Big B gets busy with his TV game show.
"We've started recording episodes. While doing "KBC", I'll start a film, Raj Kumar Santoshi's Power," he says.
Read more:
I don’t work for awards: Big B - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/I-dont-work-for-awards-Big-B/articleshow/6572266.cms#ixzz0ztNxDxmE
