On KBC, Amitabh Bachchan recalls how his stage fright delayed shoot of iconic Deewaar scene: ‘Sat in my room all day’

Amitabh Bachchan often recalls personal stories, and old tales from his illustrious career on the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati. And on the latest episode of KBC, he remembered an incident while filming an iconic scene in his 1975 film Deewaar.
Sitting across from him on the hot seat was a contestant named Vikram, a writer who has worked on several television shows in his career. The host asked Vikram if he has ever experienced writer’s block, and Vikram said yes. He admitted that insecurity is very common in writers, and sometimes, he takes off for the mountains in order to overcome psychological hurdles.

Amitabh Bachchan said that this feeling isn’t specific to just writers, but all kinds of performance arts himself. He took the opportunity to recall a story about how he experienced major stage fright before filming a famous scene in the film Deewaar, in which his character marches into a temple and delivers a soliloquy to God.
He said, “Now that we have spoken about personal life let me tell you that in my film Deewaar, there was a scene where my character Vijay goes to the temple for the first time and prays for his mother. It was a very difficult scene for me and in the morning, I did all my makeup and was ready early with my look. The film’s director, Yash Chopra ji, came on the set and he said the shot is ready. But I was unable to come out of my room and I did not go to the set. And believe me, it was an early morning shift scene, and I sat in my room all day, till 10 pm. I thought how would I portray this character. This is a different character who doesn’t believe in God and has to pray for his mother’s life so how should I perform this scene in front of the camera.”

But the actor credited writers Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan for having written such wonderful lines for the scene. Amitabh often recites those lines on stage shows and public events, on popular demand. And on KBC as well, Vikram’s mother requested the actor to repeat the lines for her, and he agreed. The audience applauded.