राकेश ओमप्रकाश मेहरा ने सुनाए अमिताभ बच्चन से जुड़े किस्से: कहा- कई झटकों के बाद भी नहीं टूटा हौसला, सेट पर सुकून ढूंढते बिग बी

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan turns 83 today. On this special occasion, veteran film producer-director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra had a special conversation with Dainik Bhaskar and also shared the story of his first meeting with him.

First meeting and ‘six inch curtain’

I still remember the day when the first meeting between me and Amitabh Bachchan ji was fixed. This is from the early days of AB Corp. An advertising agency came to me and told me that an ad had to be made in which a very big personality would be featured. After a few days of struggle, he told that the celebrity was none other than Amitabh Bachchan himself. The most special thing at that time was that Amitabh ji had not done any ad film till then, especially he had not appeared on TV at all.

The next day I went to meet him. I still remember his attire: blue jeans, blue denim T-shirt and a baseball cap. We met at the office of AB Corp. He casually shook hands and said, Hello, I am Amitabh Bachchan. I replied, I am Rakesh Nehra sir. That’s where the discussion on the script of a series of our five ad films started.

During the discussion I told him something interesting. I said, Sir, till date we have seen you on a 60 feet screen, where you keep us hypnotized. But when you come to the TV, six inches and I have the remote in my hand, I will be on some other channel after that. He laughed and said, Rakesh, this is the truth of the coming days. It was his amazing foresight that he recognized the power of TV even at that time.

Amitabh ji agreed for this first ad film because at that time there was no corporate in film making and AB Corp was started by him. I told him that his fans might wonder why such a big personality is doing ads. Therefore, Amitabh ji answered this question in the script itself. He himself comes on the screen and says that perhaps you will be surprised to see me on TV. Thought brother, I have acted in films, played plays in theatre, sung broken songs, let’s try this too.

Unique journey of music video

After that ad series the direction of our life changed. We made many more advertising films with them, including ads for a wide variety of things. After some time he called me home and played some songs. That album was AB Baig, in which she sang songs on the poems of Babuji (Harivansh Rai Bachchan ji). He asked me which songs I liked and wanted to make their music video. I chose Sahir Ludhianvi’s poem ‘Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein Khayal Aata Hai’ (which was the original, not the one from the film) and Babuji’s poem ‘Eer Bir, Fateh’. Amitabh ji also told that this is his favourite.

Choosing me to direct the music video was a coincidence. At that time I was editing in London and Amitabh ji was also there. While working in the studio he suddenly said, why don’t you direct? I refused saying that I am an ad director and big people like Michael Jackson’s director are ready to make videos. But his answer was a decisive no, you have understood the story. Heart should be Hindustani, poetry is Hindustani. This is how I directed those two music videos.

One day I was sitting with Abhishek Bachchan and discussing a story about his entry into films. Coincidentally, I had a 25-page story in my bag at that time. Amitabh ji came into the room and I told him Amit ji, please read this flight entertainment. He was going to Delhi by night flight. As soon as the flight took-off, around 11:30 pm, I got a call from him and he asked in a hushed voice, what PK had you written, what happened?

‘Aks’ and my birth as a director

The very next night he called again and said let’s do it. I still remember his three words, let’s do it. This is how my first feature film ‘Aks’ started with Amitabh Bachchan ji. This is from 1998-99. I was very nervous because I had never made a feature film before. The film also starred Manoj Bajpayee and Raveena Tandon.

The film did not do well at the box office but it made a big splash critically. Critics said it was a film ahead of its time. All the lead actors of the film also received awards. Amitabh ji, Manoj Bajpayee and Raveena Tandon ji received the Filmfare Award. From there my real journey as a filmmaker began. I can say that Amitabh Bachchan ji gave birth to a director in my career. There is an English saying, A child gives birth to the mother. Similarly she gave birth to a director. This was a big deal for me.

‘Aks’ was Amitabh ji’s comeback film. If there was shooting at 7 am the next day, he would call at night (it was our cold word) asking whether he had eaten or not? That means, come let’s talk about yesterday’s scene. We used to read scenes till late night. Even on days when Amit ji’s scene was not there (because Raveena and Manoj ji’s shooting was at night), he would still come to the set. This was my first film and his association was no less than a film school for me.

‘Sukoon’ on the set and the duty of a son

‘Aks’ was Amitabh Bachchan’s comeback film, but his behavior on the sets was a source of inspiration for any new director. On days when Amitabh ji did not have a scene, he would still come to the set. When asked, he said, in those days there was a lot of turmoil going on in AB Corp. When I come to the set, I feel very relaxed, whether my scene happens that day or not. For Rakesh Mehra, this set was his film school.

In his conversations with Amitabh ji, the ups and downs of AB Corp were also discussed a lot. Mehra admits that when one paves a new path and starts the film business at a corporate level, there come challenges. They say, a person is recognized only when the world cancels him, and then he gets up and says that I stand again and do better than him.

The way Amitabh ji fulfilled his son’s duty even after reaching great heights in his career is unforgettable. When his mother was not well and his shows were running in America, after finishing the show every Friday-Saturday, he would immediately take the first flight to India, spend three days here and go back. This sequence continued for two-three months. Mehra says, by seeing this we get to learn what are the duties and responsibilities of a son, which we often forget while getting lost in our career.