Abhishek Bachchan recalls villagers arrived in trucks to see him shoot for Refugee, wanted to see ‘Bachchan ka beta’

Abhishek Bachchan has said that he was under a lot of pressure when he started shooting for his first film because of the immense popularity of his father Amitabh Bachchan. The actor made his Bollywood debut 22 years ago with Refugee, which also marked the first film of Kareena Kapoor. The romantic drama, written and directed by JP Dutta, also featured Jackie Shroff, Suniel Shetty, and Anupam Kher. Also Read| Amitabh Bachchan hails Abhishek Bachchan, speaks on ‘superiority of son over father’ after Dasvi release

Abhishek recalled that several villagers had heard reports of Amitabh Bachchan’s son filming his first scene and had come to the sets in Bhuj, Gujarat, to watch him. He said that the entire star cast had also come to see his work, which made him panic and worry that they are going to tell his father about his poor performance.

Asked if there was added pressure on him because his father was an overachiever, Abhishek told Mashable India, “Initially yes, to be very honest. Initially, it was like what will people say, what will people think. I remember that I was shooting for Refugee, my first film, and it was my first shot. Aur dher saare log aa gaye the dekhne ke liye kyunki sunne mein aaya tha ki Bachchan ka beta jo hai wo shooting kar raha hai (Many people had come to the sets to see me film after hearing that (Amitabh) Bachchan’s son is shooting). People from nearby villages came filled in tractors. The whole star cast, Anupam (Kher) uncle was in the picture, and he was also one of my acting teachers and I knew him from my childhood so he also came. Kareena (Kapoor), Kulbhushan (Kharbanda) ji, Padmini Kapila ji were in the scene. Reena Roy and all the other actors in the star cast came thinking ‘arey bacche ka pehla shot hai, dekhte hain kya karta hai (It’s his first shot, let’s see how he does)’.”

He further recalled, “Aur mai ekdam baukhla gaya tha (And I became completely flustered). I messed up my scene several times. I just panicked. I started thinking ki ye log abhi hotel jaayenge, PCO mein ghuske phone karenge, dad ko bolenge ‘Ek dum bakwas hai, isko picture se nikal do aur isko kahi aur laga do kaam pe (I thought these people will go to hotel and call up my father and tell him that I am very bad and kick me out of the film).’ Then I started thinking ‘Oh they’ve all come to see Mr Bachchan’s son and I am going to be such an epic failure, disappointment.”

Abhishek’s latest film Dasvi, a social comedy that stars him as a politician who decides to clear his 10th exams while in prison, released on Netflix and Jio Cinema on April 7. The film also stars Nimrat Kaur and Yami Gautam. Amitabh Bachchan has been all praises for Abhishek’s performance, and recently said that his son has given him ‘so much pride and joy.’