Amitabh Bachchan with Pratibha Advani: Mutual admiration

New Delhi, June 16: Fancy Amitabh Bachchan sending you a little thank-you note. And fancy him doing that after he’s given you the longest interview of his life.

And fancy the note going somewhat like this:

“Thank you. You are too kind and generous. It was such a joy talking to you. The quality of an interview is judged not by the person getting interviewed but by the person who interviews. And you were marvellous. Love and regards.”

Would you then be left wishing you were Pratibha Advani, the television anchor who produces a programme on Bollywood’s movers and shakers and has a famous father in L.K. Advani?

Jokes apart, that’s what really happened with Pratibha, according to a press release — put out by her company Swayam Infotainment — that lists some of the nuggets of the superstar’s life and times that he let on.

Like how some friends of his parents wanted to name him “Inquilab” after the freedom movement’s signature cry. Like how he went in for the “minimalist” style of dancing because of his height.

Pratibha, who doesn’t usually interview film stars, is very matter-of-fact about why she made an exception in Bachchan’s case. “I have always been a fan of his,” she told The Telegraph.

“The basic idea was not to sensationalise but to bring out his personality,” she continued, adding it had been “fun” interpolating the interview with film clips and sound bytes.

Did the interview focus on his brief and not-so-happy stint in politics?

“Silly things like whether he was a Congressman or not are not brought out. Amitabh is the greatest icon of Indian cinema and it doesn’t matter whether he was in a political party or not,” Pratibha said.

In the interview, Bachchan apparently did not shy off speaking on politics. But instead of terming it a “cesspool” — as he did in the eighties, just before quitting the Congress — he said he left because he had “not contributed enough”. “But he had no regrets for the time he was in public life,” Pratibha said.

Of her own, she did not quiz him on his relations with the Gandhis or the Amar Singh-Mulayam Singh Yadav duo. But, Pratibha said, Bachchan himself said he had entered politics because of Rajiv Gandhi.

The superstar also spoke of how wife Jaya had put family before films, how proud he was of her and how she was now back in public life.

Pratibha said it had taken a while to get an appointment because Bachchan had been travelling. But everything fell beautifully into place once he strode in for the interview.

“I told him it was supposed to be a one-hour interview and he said, ‘How much time, one hour? How will I get through, anyway let’s see’,” she said.

“The first cut came at the end of 53 minutes... because the battery (of the camera) ran out. After that it went on for another 45 minutes.”

What was incredible at the end of the day was how “humble” he still remained, Pratibha said. “I was struck by how humble and creative he is even after almost 40 years in the film industry.”