Abhishek Bachchan talks with Subhash K Jha and reflects on the experience of making Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai, which released 24 years ago today!
How do you look back on the experience of Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai?
I look back very fondly on that experience. I enjoyed working with my friend Goldie and Jackie Shroff, Rani Mukerji and Sushmita Sen.
Why do you think the film didn’t work?
To be very honest, the lack of experience went against Goldie and me. We became so emotionally involved with the story that we lost all objectivity. We were like two boys chasing a dream. But I don’t regret it. I think Goldie did a fine job. The film gave me a lot of scope to perform. I hope I didn’t let him down.
Your character had a graph from an innocent smalltowner to compromised city slicker?
I played an ambitious boy from Varanasi who comes to Bombay to study. It’s about how my character follows his dreams. It’s a very interesting and different kind of film. It isn’t a run-of-the-mill entertainer. It deals with issues such as job reservation and the role of the media.
Both Goldie Behl’s father Ramesh Behl and Rohan Sippy’s father Ramesh Sippy have worked extensively with your parents. How does that equation come into play in your generation?
That was another generation. We are treated in a different way. But yes, there’s a feeling of mutual trust between me and the directors whose fathers have worked with my parents. The important thing is to select roles that are different. I think the audience is ready for a change. Nobody knows what the viewers want. But they want something new presented in a new-age package.
You played a dreamer in Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai?
I wouldn’t call my character Suraj a dreamer. Dreamers are unrealistic. I’d say he’s a character with a definite goal in life. I play a guy who comes from Varanasi to Mumbai only to find his well-planned schemes going to the doghouse.
Your character communicated the innocence of Raj Kapoor?
I agree with you. This was a film in the same genre as Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420 and Aziz Mirza’s Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. But it had its own unique rhythm. But yes, it’s a film about coming of age.
