We may think every movie happens smoothly. But sometimes, filmmakers or producers have to wait for weeks or months to hear a ‘yes’ from the actors. Director Apoorva Lakhia found himself in the same situation during his debut film, where a star kid made him wait for six months. Even though the movie was made, Lakhia recalled how he was affected at that time.
The starkid we are talking about is the son of two big Bollywood stars and his wife is also a superstar in the Indian film industry. Yes, we are talking about Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan’s son Abhishek Bachchan, who is married to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. In an interview, Apoorva Lakhia revealed that the movie was being produced by Pahlaj Nihalani’s son Vishal Nihalani. Lakhia shared the difference in meeting both men whose fathers are influential figures in the film industry.
Apoorva said, “He is very interesting. When you go there at first, you get water. A week later, if he calls you again, you get offered a cappuccino. By then, you know you are progressing, and by the fourth or fifth meeting, you are offered dry fruits. This gives you a green light. And when he starts to offer you sandwiches and all, you know that we will shoot now. After six months, he called me and said, this film needs to be made but not with me. I got extremely mad at him and I just snatched my script from his hand and said, ‘No problem.’ And I left.”
In the same interview with Friday Talkies, Apoorva Lakhia recalled his meeting with Abhishek Bachchan. He got a call a week later from Abhishek’s secretary. The Haseen Parkar director said, “We went and sat, and to make me realise that he is a star, he made me wait for half an hour. This time, we were only offered water. He came and sat, and asked me, ‘Are you angry with me?’ I was like, ‘Of course, I am angry with you.’ I said, ‘You are Amitabh Bachchan’s son, you won’t have problems, he is Pahlaj Nihalani’s son, he won’t have issues, but I am somebody who needs to worry about my rent of Rs 7,000. I wasted six months of my life, if you were not interested, you could have told me so, I would have approached someone else.’ Because I took a stand instead of apologising, he respected me a little more and he agreed to do the film and since that day, we became best friends and his family has been very good to me.”
Apoorva Lakhia directed Abhishek Bachchan in Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost. Released in 2003, the movie also stars Lara Dutta and Chunky Panday.
