Abhishek Bachhan : Interview

What do you think of the music of JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM? This is Shaad’s second film with me and coming off a film like BUNTY AUR BABLI it’s a great task to try and create an album, which captures the flavour of the film, the madness and the flamboyance of the film and to try and outdo the previous album. I am really and fully convinced after a lot of hardwork put in by Sahankar Ehsaan Loy, Shaad and Gulzar sahab that they have actually managed to completely outdo BUNTY AUR BABLI to JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM which is by far one of the best album I have ever heard in my life. It is so full of energy and it’s a perfect representation of what the film is. It captures the madness the flamboyance, the attitude, the romance and just magnifies it a hundred folds. It’s flawless Which is your favourite track in JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM? It being such an album, which is so good, it’s very tough to choose. I love the song between Preity and me, which is ‘Bolna Halke Halke’ which is a romantic track. I think that’s a wonderful song its also one of the few songs that’s on the lower and slower tempo in the film while the others are very high energy so it’s a welcome change. It’s a beautiful track, which is beautifully sung and written, wonderfully picturerized so I like the romantic track ‘Bolna Halke Halke’ and obviously I am partial to the title track of JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM just for its sheer energy, it’s superb. What was it like working with Shankar Ehsaan Loy? It never seizes to amaze me how they mange to come up with such great and diverse music everytime. What is wonderful is how they work as a team individually they are great musicians Shankar is a wonderful singer, Loy is a great pianist and Ehsaan plays wonderful guitar they play many other instruments as well. The synergy that they share they just come up with such normal tunes and tracks and the greatest thing is that whenever they work with Shaad I feel they find a middle path between the two, Shaad and them. They have a very serious and distinctive quality and sound to their music they seem to forget that when ever they are working with Shaad they create a new sound altogether and I think that’s superb to do it time and up time to reinvent yourself. You really can’t say enough of them they are just fantastic and I am just very happy that they have agreed to do the film and they have come up with such a great track because they made our job as an actor so much more easier. The look in JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM has been highly appreciated can you tell us something about that? I would prefer not to call it the look of the film but call it the attitude when you have Shaad as the captain of the ship you know there’s going to be oodles of attitude and a very distinctive style. I think JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM is the most precise representation of what Shaad is like in real life. I think he gave everybody a peek through the window in BUNTY AUR BABLI how mad he actually is and how flamboyant is he and what a genius is he and I think he’s truly allowed everybody to look into his soul in JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM. It’s Shaad Ali Sehgal all the way it’s totally him, it’s his film and everything is owed to him in this film. He’s responsible for every inch. What was it like working with Aki Narula? Aki has worked with us in BUNTY AUR BABLI so it was wonderful to reprise with most of the team this time around. Aki as a designer is very flamboyant, he loves style and he loves to blow things out of the water and he got a film in which he could really freak out as he is and he’s done a wonderful job. He was so much in tune with what Shaad wanted and they together have managed to come up with a look, which was really needed for the film. The look is distinctive, it is very special and the look is something, which aided the performance a lot. So when you wear the kind of clothes that you are wearing the accessories, with your hair and the make up it helps you become the character. I always believe that looking the part is fifty percent of your job and that is largely aided by the work of Aki Narula. I really think it’s the finest piece of costume designed in Hindi film till date. Which is your favourite outfit from the film? I like all of them. They were clothes almost wonderful for JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM. It allowed me as a human being as an actor to do things and wear things that I wouldn't have ever dreamt off in my life. The kind of clothes Aki has come up with in this film I don't think I would ever be content but they suited the character. Rikki Thukral was that kind of character and it suited him brilliantly and it was just a pleasure to get into somebody else's skin be so loud and get away with it. The wonderful thing about the costumes is, when we used to shoot on the streets of London people used to actually look at the lead actors and really wonder why we were wearing such clothes and we are used to become conscious at times. I think Preity was the most sober of the lot followed by Bobby then Lara and I was the maddest but all, though we were very conscious while shooting. I think once you see the film the costumes don't seem to jump out on you because the world created by Shaad and Bose, our cinematographer. and Aki you don't pay attention to the costume. It helps you take to a different world of JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM and I think any technician working on the film aides and manage to help the audience to transform themselves into a different world. The world of the movie then you have succeed it and I think every technician in this film has managed that. How did JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM happen to you? What was it about the script that made you decide to do the film? JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM was a story that Yash Raj had told me while we were shooting for BUNTY AUR BABLI it was then called SANGAM MIEN. It kept evolving, it moved from Delhi station to Water Loo Station. It grew in stature and style and in scale so its something that I can very luckily say that I was blessed to see from its inception from when it was a germ of an idea, so it happened over a time and I think it helped a lot that I knew off the script and of the idea from the ideation stage because it helps to acquaint oneself with the script and the character. So it's a lot of fun for me to see it grow and finally become a great film that's to come. While you have grown as an actor from BUNTY AUR BABLI to JHOM BARA BAR JHOOM? I think the main aspect is the confidence when I took on BUNTY AUR BABLI there was a huge confidence problem because I wasn't sure whether I would be able to manage that level. I tried very hard to maintain a very high pitch known in the level of performance, which is something Shaad really likes. Shaad is a believer that anybody can do that to carry off a character which is very high octane and to carry it off with ease is very tough. I thought Bunty was one such character very tough to do. After I completed BUNTY AUR BABLI and saw the film I had confidence in Shaad in the sense that he always believed in me as an actor and I was happy that he managed to take out the performances in me so when JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM came along there wasn't any apprehension towards the film or the character although it was ten notches above BUNTY AUR BABLI in attitude, pitch and in know we were more bullish about the film and we said yes lets do it and we tried to be very confident and attack it head on so it was a matter of confidence I think on Shaad's part of it. One criticism that gave our way to BUNTY AUR BABLI was that they thought it was two separate films being made they felt BUNTY AUR BABLI should not have been a serious love story at the end of the film and that it should not have the gravity that it has in the last half an hour they wanted to see the madness of BUNTI AUR BABLI. I felt in some part may be it was the makers of BUNTY AUR BABLI and the actors the team felt that we have to give it some sort of gravity to justify the characters and make them more human and we cant make a film which is just a laugh riot and showing these two kids doing crazy things. I think that was the problem in our confidence we were trying to be a bit safe I think we throw emotions into the wind in JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM and its gone all the way and it's a thoroughly entertaining film, it's very funny. It's what Adi says masala to the core and I think that's how we have grown Shaad and me. I think we have the confidence to take on more like JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM and blow it up and play it on the scale and the way we want to do it. What do you have to say about Shaad and Abhishekh sharing a bond and give their best together even though it's just their second film? I think it's the comfort. I think Shaad has the comfort of knowing that he can be himself in front of me and he want to be judged and I love him for the person that he is and I have the same thing towards him I can be completely me and I have no inhibitions from him and that's largely because of him and the kind of person he is. He's a very open person and I think that's very exciting for an actor and most importantly is that he loves his artist nothing is more important then them and he is very protective about them and he literally treats them like children. Rani and me when we were doing BUNTY AUR BABLI we were doing BUNTY AUR BABLI, were treated like children on the set he really mollycoddles you and he really cares for you and that comes through. Although this is my second film under Shaad as a director. I have done four films in which he helped on humor he is one of the primary reasons I got humor then we did BUNTY AUR BABLI he worked on GURU with me and now JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM he's a great friend. I think when there is chemistry between the director and his actor it always comes through. The camera is too short and it catches everything and I think that's one of Shaad's greatest assets it's that he makes actors very comfortable. It's because he demand's a lot when you see JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM its very unrealistic in terms of what is required of an actor to do, it can scare you its like you are standing outside one of the great institution of art's in Paris of which we have all learnt about in school and you are outside dancing with fifty French dancers which is rather ostentatiously and madly and so are you in this very messed up look singing "Ticket to Hollywood" in vulgar movements so you know you need to have a lot of confidence in your director more importantly the director has to have a lot of confidence in you and he has to help you forget that there is a world around you and keep you in the work of the film and Shaad always manages to do that and that only tells you about the kind of person he is.

 

< Prev		Next >