‘I’ve Been A Puppet In Shoojitda’s Hands’

‘Shoojitda‘s
prep
was
unique
and
a
nice,
refreshing
change
for
me.’
‘In
the
three
to
four
months
of
preparation
that
we
did,
I
think
we
only
read
two
scenes.’

‘We
spent
two,
three
months
where
he
would
just
talk
to
me
about
life,
philosophy,
spirituality,
and
a
lot
of
things,
which
I
slowly
realised
was
him
trying
to
get
into
my
head
and
understand
the
kind
of
person
I
was.’

Abhishek
Bachchan
gives
us
a
career-best
performance
in
his
new
film,

I
Want
To
Talk,
where
we
see
him
with


never-seen-before
candour.

He
looks
back
at
the
film
and
tells

Subhash
K
Jha,
“Hopefully,
for
the
next
one,
I
can
do
something
that
I
might
not
have
done
before.”

Abhishek,
that
career-defining
performance
as
a
man
who
won’t
let
death
win,
where
does
all
the
pain
come
from?

Thank
you
very
much.
I
hope
every
actor
gets
to
do
work
that
is
going
to
be
career-defining
with
every
film
they
choose
to
do.

That’s
the
attitude
with
which
you
should
approach
each
and
every
one
of
your
films.

I’d
like
to
do
that
with
every
film
of
mine.

As
far
as
where
does
the
pain
and
suffering
come
from,
we’re
actors.
This
is
what
we
do.

We
listen
to
the
direction
given
to
us
by
our
director,
in
this
case,
Shoojitda
(Sircar).

The
entire
credit
I
have
to
give
him.
I’ve
just
been
a
puppet
in
his
hands.

How
did
your
equation
with
Jayant
Kriplani
happen?

Jayant
is
a
wonderful
person
and
an
even
better
actor.
He’s
so
natural
and
effortless.
It
made
watching
him
perform
a
pleasure.

When
you’re
working
with
such
accomplished
and
wonderful
actors,
it
makes
your
job
so
easy.

I
think
the
characters
are
so
well-defined
and
such
polar
opposites
that
it
makes
it
very
easy.

Jayant
and
you
bring
a
lot
of
humour
to
grim
situations.

Keeping
Shoojitda‘s
perspective
on
film-making,
he
likes
to
find
something
funny,
something
that
you
can
chuckle
at
in
the
most
serious
of
situations.

I
really
think
that,
you
know,
Dr
Deb,
Jayantda‘s
character,
is
the
perfect
foil
for
my
character,
Arjun
Sen.

For
all
the
drama
that
Arjun
likes
to
do,
he’s
as
serious
about
it.

It’s
such
a
wonderful
board
to
bounce
off.

And
he
made
me
look
so
good.

You
share
a
real
bond
with
your
screen
daughter,
played
by
Pearl
Dey.

I
was
surrounded
by
wonderful
actors.

When
you
have
that
kind
of
talent
around
you,
it
makes
you
look
good,
whether
you
deserve
to
or
not.

Well,
yes,
Pearl
has
done
a
great
job.

Not
just
Pearl,
even
Ahilya,
who
plays
the
older
version
of
my
daughter,
has
done
a
wonderful
job
and
I
thoroughly
enjoyed
working
with
both
of
them.

I
cannot
take
credit
for
the
chemistry
at
all.

It’s
entirely
up
to
them
and
Shoojitda
for
creating
that.

Is
this
a
new
beginning
for
you?

I
don’t
know
how
to
answer
that.

You
look
for
new
horizons.

You
try
and
push
your
envelope.

You
want
to
look
at
doing
something
more
challenging
for
the
next
one.

That’s
what
we
try
to
do
and
try
to
achieve.

As
far
as
new
beginnings
and
all
that,
I
leave
that
to
my
learned
audience.

They’re
the
final
deciders
of
what
is
good
and
what
is
bad.
I
humbly
respect
and
accept
what
they
have
to
say.

Hopefully,
for
the
next
one,
I
can
do
something
that
I
might
not
have
done
before.

Did
you
refer
to
your
own
bonding
with
your
daughter
Aaradhya?

I
think
every
actor
always,
whether
you
know
it
or
not,
but
I
think
subliminally,
somewhere
reference
your
own
life.

I
think
the
natural
process
of
thought
is
to
think,
what
would
I
do
in
this
situation?

But
the
credit
of
the
chemistry
has
to
go
entirely
to
Shoojitda,
Ahilya
and
Pearl.

Did
you
meet
the
real
Arjun
Sen?

I
met
him
about
10
to
15
days
into
the
shoot.
He
came
to
LA,
where
we
were
shooting
and
spent
a
lot
of
time
with
me.

A
wonderful
guy
and,
you
know,
he
lived
up
to
be
the
true
inspiration
that
his
life
has
been.

Very
insightful,
very
facetious,
great
sense
of
humour,
very,
very,
witty.

He
refuses
to
see
the
downside
of
life.

He’s
very
positive
and
I
really,
really,
enjoyed
being
with
him.

Is
the
real
Arjun
happy
with
the
reel
Arjun?

I
think
that’s
a
question
best
asked
to
him.
I’d
like
to
believe
he’s
proud
and
happy
with
my
work.

How
much
prep
did
you
undertake?

Well,
Shoojitda‘s
prep
was
unique
and
a
nice,
refreshing
change
for
me.

In
the
three
to
four
months
of
preparation
that
we
did,
I
think
we
only
read
two
scenes.
We
did
not
do
the
conventional
script
readings.

We
spent
two,
three
months
where
he
would
just
talk
to
me
about
life,
philosophy,
spirituality,
and
a
lot
of
things,
which
I
slowly
realised
was
him
trying
to
get
into
my
head
and
understand
the
kind
of
person
I
was
and
therein
trying
to
mould
how
he
wanted
my
Arjun
Sen
to
think
and
to
behave.

It
was
a
wonderfully
new
approach.
It
was
not
very
direct
prep,
so
to
speak.

It
was
more
about
getting
into
the
mindset
and
being
comfortable
being
this
person.

What
is
your
takeaway
from
this
experience?

I
think
when
you
have
the
persistence
and
tenacity
that
Arjunda
has,
by
just
the
actions
of
what
he
does
in
life,
I
think
it
becomes
very
easy
to
portray
it.

His
journey
is
very
inspirational.

Once
you
buy
into
that,
it
makes
it
very
easy
to
portray.