Sooraj Barjatya says he took anxiety medication before narrating Uunchai to Amitabh Bachchan: ‘You cannot face his gaze’

Before the vision of his upcoming feature Uunchai—a film about three friends on a mission to scale Mount Everest—was brought to life, Sooraj Barjatya was on a tougher expedition: narrating the film to megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
The filmmaker recalled he had pitched his 2003 drama Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon to Bachchan and found that he hears film narrations with a cold, blank face— which was extremely intimidating for him. For Uunchai, where Bachchan teams up with actors Anupam Kher and Boman Irani, Barjatya said he was so nervous to have a meeting with the megastar that he took anxiety medicines to calm his nerves.
“I remember meeting sir (Bachchan) for the narration of Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon and he lens ‘apalak’ (without blinking his eyes) and you cannot face the gaze, it’s not easy. When I wrote this script, I messaged him and he had given me time for a zoom meeting.

“I sat for the meeting, taking two anxiety medicines because it is not easy to face sir,” the filmmaker said at the trailer launch of the film, which Bachchan attended virtually.
Barjatya, however, soon realised while shooting with him that beyond Bachchan’s intimidating aura, there was an actor who was curious to learn. “I realised that sir is the easiest actor to work with. I enjoyed working with him on the sets but I enjoyed (his company) more in his vanity van.
“Because he would talk about life, poetry, filmmaking, he teaches us but on sets, he only lens and that’s the greatest thing,” Barjatya added.

At the event, Bachchan said he could not attend it in person as he is not allowed medically to step out in public” after he contracted COVID twice. But the megastar revealed that one of the reasons he came on board for the film was because his son actor Abhishek Bachchan wanted him to do it.
“True that, Abhishek wanted me to do the film. When the son becomes his father’s age or comes nearer to it, he starts wearing his shoes. And if your son asks you to do something, you agree to it,” Big B added.
Written Sunil Gandhi and Abhishek Dixit, Uunchai also stars Neena Gupta, Sarika, Parineeti Chopra, Nafisa Ali and Danny Denzongpa. Jointly produced Rajshri Productions, Boundless Media and Mahaveer Jain Films, Uunchai is scheduled to release on November 11.