‘Abhishek Just Wanted To Move On’

‘That
day,
I
remember
I
said,
can
I
hug
you?’
‘And
I
gave
him
a
big,
tight
hug.’

Shoojit
Sircar
has
a
clear
reason
why
he
asked
Abhishek
Bachchan
to
star
in
his
heart-warming
film,

I
Want
To
Talk.

“It
all
happened
in
one
evening
in
Melbourne.
We
were
at
a
film
festival
together
and
he
(Abhishek)
invited
me
for
dinner.
During
that
dinner,
something
happened
between
us.
He
just
poured
out
his
heart
and
I
saw
something
very
beautiful
in
him,”
Shootjit
tells

Subhash
K
Jha.

Why
have
you
named
your
film

I
Want
To
Talk?

We
want
to
talk
and
say
things
which
we
keep
internally.
The
title
conveys
a
sense
of
urgency
to
talk.

When
did
you
first
think
of
making
this
film?

I
have
been
working
on
this
idea
since
2020.

My
stories
are
inspired
from
real
situations
and
people,
what
I
see
around
me
in
everyday
life.

It’s
shot
completely
in
the
USA.
It
is
the
simple
journey
of
a
man.

Why
Abhishek
Bachchan?

I
have
always
wanted
to
cast
Abhishek.
I
know
him
well
enough.

We
play
(football)
together.

I
met
him
quite
a
few
times
when
I
was
working
with
Mr
(Amitabh)
Bachchan.

He
would
just
walk
into
the
set
and
say,
‘Let’s
have
lunch;’.

He
would
come
and
meet
Mr
Bachchan
and
they
would
have
their
own
time.
So
I
have
interacted
with
Abhishek
and
have
found
him
very
gentle
and
a
nice
human
being.
Well
behaved
too.

I
was
looking
someone
who
could
play
a
working
father
and
bare
himself
completely.

He
agreed
to
surrender
unconditionally.
I
thought
he
would
be
the
right
cast,
and
I
was
right.

How
different
is
it
working
with
Abhishek
after
working
with
his
father?

Both
have
quite
a
few
similarities.

One
of
the
similarities
is
that
both
are
best
in
sticking
to
the
original
script.

The
Big
B
can
remember
his
lines
with
absolute
precision.

Abhishek
too
surrenders
completely
to
the
director,
and
is
very
disciplined
like
Mr
Bachchan.

How
did
you
manage
to
avert
morbidity
and
actually
find
funny
moments
in
the
protagonist’s
medical
condition?

I
think
that’s
what
slowly
I
have
realised
—
if
I
don’t
embrace
the
way
I
embrace
life,
I
must
embrace
death
and
morbidity
too.
Looking
at
life’s
adversities
or
ups
and
downs
becomes
easier
to
face.

Also,
when
time
passes,
you
actually
forget
whatever
you
were
stressing
in
the
past.

For
example,
whatever
that
I
was
struggling
with
yesterday,
today
I
can
look
back
and
smile
and
laugh
at
it.

So
it’s
very
important
to
embrace
death
so
that
you
can
be
fear-free.

I
wouldn’t
say
fearless,
I’m
fear-free.

How
did

I
Want
To
Talk
happen?

It
all
happened
in
one
evening
in
Melbourne.
We
were
at
a
film
festival
together
and
he
invited
me
for
dinner.

During
that
dinner,
something
happened
between
us.

He
just
poured
out
his
heart
and
I
saw
something
very
beautiful
in
him
that
I
was
looking
for
in
Arjun.

What
were
you
looking
for?

A
kind
of
vulnerability,
a
kind
of
warmth.

That
day,
I
remember
I
said,
can
I
hug
you?

And
I
gave
him
a
big,
tight,
hug.

He
said
he
just
wanted
to
move
on.

Then
I
understood
his
intelligence,
his
intellect,
his
soft
side.

So
a
lot
of
things
attracted
me.

Another
thing
I
noticed
was
of
course,
he
has
a
lot
of
things
of
Mr
Bachchan.
I
also
found
his
eyes
like
Jayadi‘s
(Bachchan).

We
are
all
Jayadi‘s
fans,
since

Mahanagar,
Guddi,
Mili,
Abhimaan…

Very
few
people
remember
that
she’s
a
brilliant
actress.

So
when
I
saw
Arjun
Sen
in
Abhishek,
there
was
no
looking
back.

He
was
also
ready
to
surrender.

After
that,
it
was
more
like
us
bonding
together.
Our
bonding
became
so
beautiful.

Abhishek
delivered
what
he
is,
what
is
deep
inside.