There was no Holi at the Bachchans this year. Says Mr Bachchan, "There wasn't any celebrations this year because of the devastations caused by Tsunami. We missed all our friends from the industry who kindly visit us on Holi and join in the celebrations. But celebrations seemed out of place when nature has played such a cruel joke on so many people."

On a less sombre note, Mr Bachchan met up with Hillary Clinton last week. "That's right. She was in Delhi where I attended the India Today conclave. I spoke on entertainment. She was there as one of the speakers. We had an informal meeting in her room."

According to a report in a daily Mrs Clinton had seen Mr Bachchan's films. "That isn't quite true. She had heard about my work. But it's her secretary who's a fan of my work. She has virtually seen all my films. And Mrs Clinton was aware of me through her secretary."

And now AB has a large retrospective coming up at the prestigious Lincoln Film Centre. "They've decided to pay a tribute to my repertoire. Ten of my films including Deewaar, Agneepath, and of course Black will be screened. I've had retro-festivals in Amsterdam, Egypt, London...but never in America. I shall be there for five days in the first week of April. There'll be interactive sessions with the audience."

He reverts to his current favourite topic. "Black has made such a deep impact. I've met foreigners who are shocked that India could produce a film like this."

AB is baffled by the charge that Black is a copy of a 1962 film The Miracle Worker where Patty Duke and Anne Brancroft played a deaf-mute girl and her teacher.

"I think this rumour comes from the fact that both Miracle Worker and Black are sourced to the same real-life character, namely Helen Keller. You cannot change basic facts about Keller's life just to be different, just as you can't uproot the Taj Mahal from Agra and put it in another city just to make the map seem different. Facts are facts. They would remain unchanged no matter how many times they're told and re-told."

"I don't think the two films are similar at all. All those portions with Rani Mukherjee and my character getting Alzeihmer's are not part of Helen Keller's story...Anyway I think dissent is very encouraging. How dull life would be if some people didn't find faults with Black."

The shooting of Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar and Shaad Ali's Bunty Aur Babli are over.

"Waqt in April is my next release. Vipul Shah has made a completely different film from his first Aankhen. It's a very unusual father-son story. I start re-shooting Kaun Banega Crorepati in July, followed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Yagna and Karan Johar's next directorial venture. Ravi Chopra's Babul may go to next year." Speaking on the much-discussed return of KBC, AB says, "According to my contract I had 85 episodes to complete.

There'll be certain changes in the format. The prize money has been doubled: it goes up to Rs 2 crore. The entry-system into the show will be further improved. Audiences will get to participate a lot more."

Would he consider continuing on KBC beyond the 85 episodes? "It would depend on Star Plus and on my schedules. But it would be interesting to see how viewers react to KBC three years after it was first telecast."