Once again they score full marks. Once again it's the Bachchans to the fore.

At the Filmfare awards function when Abhishek Bachchan won the best supporting actor award he surprised many by persuading Amitabh Bachchan to accompany him to the stage where he promptly handed over his trophy to his father, arguing there can be no other actor better than his dad in any category.

The spontaneous act of a son's generosity said it all. This is no ordinary father and son pair. Earlier when Amitabh stood alone on stage he looked like a gigantic superstar standing tall and alone. Today he has Abhishek standing by his side.

They make a formidable and invincible couple. In 2005, they first performed on stage together at Sanjay Dutt's concert in aid of tsunami victims. Now the stage is set for their two back-to-back feature films together: Shaad Ali's road caper "Bunty Aur Babli" and Ram Gopal Varma's "Sarkar".

While they do not play their real-life roles in Ali's film, Varma has cast them as son and father. There are other filmmakers hugely desirous of bringing together the most saleable pair.

Wisely, the Bachchans are treating their 'together' appearances very carefully. They know as well as we do that this is no ordinary coming together.

On the night after the Filmfare awards, I spoke to Bachchan about losing out in the best supporting actor category to his son.

"This is the one time when I didn't mind losing at all. In fact I was very proud to have lost out to my son. Abhishek has come up the hard way. Today when I see him make impressive headway in his career, today when we go out together and the girls run after him and bypass me, I feel I'm the happiest father in the world.

"Which father wouldn't want to see his son succeed? Jaya and I have waited with bated breath for this moment. He has a long way to go. But yes, he's on the way."

An interesting incident took place after the triumph at the Filmfare awards. In an interview to me, Ram Gopal Varma said Abhishek was an even better actor than his father.

Sure enough the senior Bachchan was overjoyed.

"I like nothing better these days than compliments for Abhishek. Of course he's better than me. And it's my greatest moment of pride when someone says that. Isn't that what any father wants? That his son (should) go further..."

Abhishek is of course far less pleased.

"How can anyone say I'm better than dad? Dad is Amitabh Bachchan. It doesn't get any better than that, does it? I remember as children, all of us, Farhan Akhtar, Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar and Goldie Behl would play games. All of us wanted to be Amitabh Bachchan. I got the privilege by default. Today I actually get to be with him. I've to pinch myself in disbelief."

I've had the privilege of watching Abhishek shoot with his dad. It's an astonishing piece of entertainment. No male co-star from the past complements the iconic Bachchan better than his son - not even Vinod Khanna or Rishi Kapoor with whom he constantly shared a male camaraderie in the blockbusters of the 1970s and 80s.

When you see them together on screen you don't see Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan as father and son, but best friends. That's what they are in real. The senior and junior Bachchan share everything from shoes to SMS.

The first time I met Abhishek it was with his father. While Amitabh was very quiet, Abhishek spoke freely and mischievously. Ever since, I've seen the two in close interaction.