He has been part of the film industry for over 45 years, but megastar Amitabh Bachchan says he still gets to learn so much from young and talented actors such as Vidya Balan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Bachchan, who has worked with the Kahaani actress in Paa, will be seen with her in the drama-thriller Te3n, which also stars Siddiqui.
“It’s always a joy to work with Vidya, and I was equally delighted to work with Nawaz whom I’ve always admired. He is a phenomenal talent,” Bachchan told reporters in Mumbai on Thursday at the trailer launch of the Ribhu Gupta film.
“Truly, we get to learn so much from artists like Vidya and Nawaz because they are this generation, and I am in great admiration and awe of all the artists in the younger generation,” he said.
The 73-year-old National Award winning actor plays John Biswas, a grandfather in pursuit of justice for eight years, while Siddiqui plays Father Martin Das whose life was changed with the same crime that claimed the life of Biswas’ granddaughter. Balan, 38, will be seen in a special appearance as the police officer who decides to investigate their case when an identical crime is repeated.
Bachchan said he observes the young actors very closely because they bring certain freshness.
“They bring to the table something that we are not used to, that we haven’t seen through the 40 years I’ve been in cinema... When I work with them I admire the way they approach the project, the scene,” he said.
Filmmmaker Sujoy Ghosh, the creative director of the film, had approached him with another idea when Te3n happened, Bachchan said.
“It was a film about Kerala and we had decided on the story and decided to go ahead, schedule our dates. One day they said they had another idea. It took me just a couple of seconds to say let’s do this, and not the other one at the moment. Ribhu wanted me to play a weak character, who is distressed by the fact that there would be a tragedy in his family and how he’s going to go about it,” he said.
Set in Kolkata, another thing Bachchan admires about the film is that it was shot totally on location and therefore provided a different charm to the film.
“I used to wonder how we would shoot in certain places, such as the most difficult chowraha [crossing] near Grand Hotel, where there is immense crowd,” Bachchan said.
The first poster of Te3n, which shows Bachchan and Siddiqui on a scooter, was released a few days earlier to the trailer launch.
Furthermore, the Piku actor said he wanted the audience to join them through social networking sites and tell them how they can promote the film which is expected to release in early June.
