Abhishek Bachchan is asked if he could go back in time and cut all public ties to Amitabh Bachchan, would he? Here’s what he said
Actor Abhishek Bachchan has often spoken about the pressures that come with with being the son of legendary actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan. In fact, his ser Shweta said on a podcast recently that her ‘blood boils’ when she sees audiences ‘unfairly’ compare Abhishek to his illustrious parents, more specifically with his father. And in a recent interview, Abhishek was asked if he’d hypothetically want to disassociate himself with his family, and re-launch himself in the film industry with a different name and a blank slate.
Baradwaj Rangan of Galatta Plus asked him, “Would you want to put yourself in a time machine, go back, erase all public photographs of you and your father together, and enter the industry as Abhishek Sharma?” Without giving it a second thought, Abhishek said that of course he would not.
He elaborated, “I would never do that, I’ve never felt the need to do that either. For me, the greatest pride comes from the fact that I’m my parents’ son. Professionally as well. I look upon the responsibility of being my parents’ son very differently from how the world perceives it… For me, I look at it as the responsibility to carry forth the family’s legacy… I’ve never looked at it as a burden, or an albatross around my neck. I’ve looked at it as a huge, huge privilege and an honour, and I wake up every morning wanting to do good service to that.”
Abhishek said that he cannot control journals who want to draw comparisons, and declared that he wears his name ‘with absolute pride’. He said, “If, after 22 years, you still feel the need to bring up a comparison, then fair enough. My approach is that you’re comparing me to the best, so I’m evidently doing something right.”
In a recent episode of the What the Hell Navya podcast, hosted Abhishek’s niece Navya Naveli Nanda, Shweta had said that while she can tolerate trolling against her parents, she draws the line at when people attack Abhishek. She had said, “That’s the only thing that drives me mad. It’s nasty. They attack him all the time, and it’s really upsetting. That really boils my blood, and I don’t care about any of this that is bothering you guys, but this really upsets me. I don’t like it when they do it to him, because you know what? It’s not fair. It really bugs me.”
Abhishek has appeared in a string of streaming releases over the last couple of years, and he said in the same interview that he is now rearing to do a ‘massy’ movie again. He was most recently seen in the second season of Prime Video’s Breathe: Into the Shadows.
