There’s a story I did in this week’s issue of India Abroad about the weekend that Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan were in NY, for a variety of events, including a  news conference to promote  next year’s Unforgettable tour.  

As an accompaniment to that story, here’s a brief   one-on-one I had  with the newlyweds  that day at the Mandarin Oriental:

(to Abhishek):   With Yuva, did you feel you’d crossed a Lakshman Rekha of sorts with your work?

Abhishek:   No, I don’t think I crossed anything.   I think I was pushed across a certain threshold due to Mani, the director.   He made me believe that there was something there, by giving me the confidence by giving me such a role to know that after which confidence level started to build up and then you felt that you could be able to take on more challenging work.   So, no.   I feel I can’t give myself credit for that.   I feel credit has to go entirely to Mani.

(to Aishwarya): Do you keep any souvenirs from your films?

Aishwarya:   From some of them.   And what’s been interesting was to discover that Abhishek does as well on all of his films, and we discovered this on Guru.   (laughs)

(to Aishwarya): How?   Did you both want the same item?

Aishwarya:   That’s very special.   We got married onscreen in the film and we retained the rings as well.   That was very, very special.

(to Aishwarya) You worked with Rajiv Menon on Guru and previously on Kandukondain Kandukondain – can you talk about what it’s like  working with him?  

Aishwarya:   Very special.   He’s a very, very dear friend and in fact I had done one of my very early commercials with him and he was amongst the people I’d met in the beginning who were convinced that I’d be in the movies and I never was.  

At that time Mani was making Roja, so he had introduced me to Roja‘s music and to the film, and I was already a fan of Mani’s work, so eventually when it came around to making his first movie in fact Rajiv offered Sapnay to me, and I was unable to do it straight up because he was starting it immediately during the end of my Miss World tenure.   So he made me meet Mani for Iruvar, so he was the bridge who got me to meet Mani.   He said “Go and make this film and I’ll come for the next, and he did for Kandukondain.  

I think it was really wonderful that we all came together to make Guru, a film very close to our hearts and very special for all of us: working with Mani again after my first film, with Rajiv on board, and with Abhishek who was one of my closest friends and colleagues from the industry and, of course, we came together as well.   So, all in all, a very special film.

(to Abhishek):   The death scene with your father in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is so powerful, especially knowing that you are father and son in real life.   Was it rough to film and do you and your father dissolve into tears watching it since then?

Abhishek:   No.   I think this is one of the dilemmas of being an actor.   We were shooting it here in New York.   I remember there wasn’t much prep done for the scene and I remember Karan was feeling very edgy.   We had to shoot the scene outside of Dad’s room when I break down with Rani, and I remember weirdly enough it came very easily, because there wasn’t much you had to prepare, or work yourself up to.   At the end of the day it was Dad, and just thinking about such a horrendous thing would bring tears to anyone’s eyes.   So shockingly, it was easy to shoot.   It wasn’t easy to deal with, but it was easy to shoot.

And watching it was relatively easy as well because you seem to just disconnect then because it’s something as an actor that you don’t want to invest in after that and I think even when we were doing his shots, which we had to do on a set in Bombay, when you’re partaking in the scene it becomes even that much easier.   It’s a bit weird.   It becomes a bit easier because it is actually your own father that’s lying there in front of you and when you go back and see it on film, you disconnect from it emotionally, because you don’t want to think about it and you want to avoid it.   It’s one of the things we have to deal with.