August
15
India Splendor: Bollywood's Golden Bachchans Talk til Midnight
[Posted by Shalini Dore]
It’s rare to have a Q&A session go on so long that the moderator has to leave. But that’s what happened Tuesday night at India Splendor’s final screening, Guru.
Variety’s Asia bureau chief Patrick Frater had a plane to catch so he left India Splendor organizer Bhuvan Lall in charge. Guru”director Mani Ratnam and stars Aishwarya Rai (looking breathtakingly beautiful in green) and Abhishek Bachchan fielded questions ranging from the message of the movie and its reference to Bachchan’s character taking dowry to what it was like growing up in an “elite” family. And when Lall tried to end the session around 11:30 p.m., the stars said they were willing to continue. At one point Bachchan even told the audience of 300 at the Billy Wilder Theater not to bother with the mics but just shout out their questions.
“You may have thought we were elite, but we were really a middle-class family,” Bachchan said. Whatever his actor parents, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri did outside the house, at home they were just Dad and Mom. “And every day we all had dinner together.”
A question about what they liked about each other as an acting couple brought forth a long response from Bachchan to which Rai quipped, “Honey, I’ve already said yes.”
And even though they both said that the reason they decided to do this film was “the chance to work with Mani” that didn’t stop a little playful banter between the stars and the director. When they were asked if they had ever thought of becoming writers or directors, Bachchan said he was happy to leave that to his director.
“That’s what he says but all actors want to direct,” Ratnam said laughing.
“Directors all really want to act,” Bachchan quickly retorted.
At midnight Lall said the lights would go out and ended the session, which was the signal for a surge to the stage as audience members tried to get their photos taken with the trio or for an autograph. India Splendor ends Wednesday, which is also the 60th anni of Indian independence.
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