The 71-year-old has had a varied and impressive career in films, playing roles of a father seeking justice for son in 'Viruddh', teacher of a blind-deaf-mute girl in 'Black', a self-obsessed chef in 'Cheeni Kum', a man in love with a much younger girl in 'Nishabd' or a child suffering from progeria in 'Paa'. Bachchan feels fortunate to be considered more than just a serviceable senior character actor and be given the opportunity to experiment.
"I think as you age you can't be playing the romantic hero. There obviously are more character-driven roles. When you are reaching 72 you automatically go to certain regions in terms of characters in films. But I am just very fortunate that all kinds of roles are coming my way," he said. With a career spanning more than four decades and having starred in over 180 films, the National award-winning actor says even now he does not feel burdened with work and gets up every morning, all rejuvenated and excited to go on to the sets.
"I enjoy the fact that I have to get up and go to work. In fact, there are days, when it is an off or a holiday and I wonder what to do. I don't know whether to spend time with the family, play games, write, read, watch TV, there are so many scripts that one has to read. Sometimes it is a boon to be occupied and I am quite happy to do that," Bachchan said. The actor's last film 'Satyagraha' in which he played a man striving to bring change in the system and upcoming film 'Bhootnath Returns' both have political undertones. But he says it was not intentional to do politically charged films back-to-back.
"It is purely co-incidental. Prakash Jha (director of 'Satyagraha') has always made very topical films and he has been consistently making films of that genre. This ('Bhootnath Returns') is more of a satire, it has got lots of humour and there are kids in it. It does have a serious comment about the state of the nation but in a humourous manner," he said. The film directed by Nitesh Tiwari, will hit theatres this Friday. In 'Bhoothnath Returns', a sequel to 2008 film 'Bhoothnath', Bachchan will reprise the role of the friendly ghost. In this movie, Bhootnath will join hands with a kid, a slum-dweller (played by Parth Bhalerao) to fight against the ills of the society.
Actor Boman Irani is playing the role of a corrupt politician in the film. Bachchan also confirmed that he will star in Bejoy Nambiar's next, which is a story about a chess player. The film will be produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who has earlier worked with the actor in 2007 film 'Eklavya: The Royal Guard'. "Yes, I am in that film. Farhan (Akhtar) is playing the lead. Vidhu is producing. I am happy to be working with Bejoy, who is a very promising young director. It is the story about a chess player," he said, without divulging further details.
