Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan says it will be a challenge to play a Shakespearian actor in a new Bollywood movie.

"My character has to contend with going from theatre to cinema,'' Bachchan said in an interview published by The Times of India on Tuesday.

Filming of the movie, tentatively titled "Curtain Call,'' begins later this week in Kolkata with noted Indian director Rituparno Ghosh at the helm.

Bachchan, 64, has a massive following among South Asians and has acted in nearly 160 movies in a career spanning three decades. He also has theater experience, playing King Lear on stage.

"Theater actors feel cinema to be a compromise,'' he said.

"Not every actor has the guts and guile to do both,'' he said. "I like the subject. There has constantly been friendly friction between theater and cinema.''

Some well-known Indian actors, such as Naseeruddin Shah and Paresh Rawal, have been able to bridge the gap, he said.