Dasvi Is Abhishek Bachchan’s Most Challenging Role!

Dasvi Is Abhishek Bachchan’s Most Challenging  Role. He  tells  Subhash  K Jha Why

Abhishek, I’ve never seen you as excited about any film as you are about Dasvi?

I am !  I  have  been telling you  about Dasvi for  some  time ; it is  a role any actor would be dying to do.

 How   did  it come your way?

My producer Dinesh Vijyan and  director Tushar Jalota told me the concept.  It was about  a kindhearted politician who  decides to sit his Class 10 examination from prison. I  simply fell for the  plot . I had to do this one.

How  difficult  was it to get into the  skin of a Haryanvi politician?

Gangaram  Choudhary is nothing like me. In that sense, this is  the  most challenging role of my career. The  first thing I had to do  was master the Haryanvi  accent. For that we had a coach on board.

 This  is  the third film in a row where  you do an accent.

I  had a  Gujarati accent in  The Big Bull. But I didn’t have  any Bengali  accent in Bob Biswas. We had  decided to do away  with any accent. But yes , I have done three different  culture-specific roles in two  years. It was not  planned. But I have to admit that I’ve come to a stage  in my career where I seek challenges. Playing the cool dude is  not  my scene  any longer.

No matter what, you always  be the coolest one?

Thank you.  But coming back to the  preparation , the hardest part was  not the body language but the accent.  I had to  make sure the Haryanvi accent didn’t  fall off. I had the  voice coach  with me whenever I could. You know, I am surprised I am still asked about  my preparation , whether  we did  workshops  before shooting.Aren’t these a  given  nowadays?

No, they are not. And you  know  it. I’ve seen  your co-stars  coming  on the sets and asking for their  lines. You want me  to name  them?

No, thanks. I would rather talk about my Dasvi co-stars Yami Gautam and  Nimrit  Kaur.  Their level  of  preparation simply took  my breath  away. I  was very impressed with their homework.

Dasvi looks authentic?

It is.  We  shot the film on actual  location in the central jail in Agra. All the inmates  that  you see are real prisoners, not junior artistes.

How did  you stop them  from looking into the camera?

We  just asked them not to. Do you know what was  my  biggest triumph  shooting for Dasvi? We recently received  a letter from the Agra central  jail informing us that  several inmates have decided to sit their  Class 10 exams  . Cinema always hopes to make  a difference. But how often does  it actually  change  lives? We will be   going  to  the  jail to show them  the film and to see how we can help with their aspirations to  complete their education.

It is rare  for  your dad(Amitabh  Bachchan) to praise you  in public. That’s what he has done. He says your performance in Dasvi makes  him proud?

What more ratification do I need? Compliments from my father are  much cherished. He is  not in Mumbai right now. He in in Lucknow  shooting.  But I owe him a  hug.

Being a  football lover I  thought you  would pop up somewhere in your Dad’s film Jhund?

Ha ha. The director Nagraj Manjule  wouldn’t have  allowed it. If you have seen the film, you’d know he has cast real-life slum footballers. I’d have stuck out like a sore thumb.I love  football and  kabaddi. I will be doing a film on both the sports as soon as we crack the scripts.

Any regrets that Dasvi is not  releasing in movie theatres?

Of course, I’d have loved it to be on the big screen. Of course , I miss my films in cinemas. But we  all know what  we’ve been  through. One has to be realistic and  accept the  situation for what  it is. I think  of  the  viewership that Big Bull, Bob Biswas got and  Dasvi will get on the streaming platform, and I am very happy.