Mumbai: There can never be another Amitabh Bachchan, said filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, who considers himself fortunate to have been born in an era defined by the legendary actor and hopes to work with him on a film someday.
Bachchan, one of Indian cinema’s biggest stars with a career spanning more than five decades, turned 84 on Sunday. “That there is nobody like Amitabh Bachchan and there never will be. I will categorise myself as a person who was born in the Amitabh Bachchan era in India,” Ali told PTI.
The 55-year-old filmmaker said he initially believed he would never get the chance to work with the veteran actor, given his towering stature, but changed his mind after directing him in an advertisement. “When I came into the film industry, I thought I’d never work with Amitabh Bachchan because he’s just like… I don’t know what I can say to him. But I had the good fortune of doing an ad film with him. And then I realised, ‘No, no. I can work with this gentleman and I’d love to, like any director’. Hopefully, someday I’ll work with him,” he said.
Ali was speaking on the sidelines of Whistling Woods International’s annual cinema festival, ‘Celebrate Cinema’26’ where he had participated in a session centred on his film ‘Main Wapas Aaunga’.
Known for films such as ‘Jab We Met’, ‘Rockstar’, ‘Tamasha’ and ‘Love Aaj Kal’, Ali is marking several personal and professional milestones this year. His recent film, ‘Main Wapas Aaunga’, has performed well at the box office; his daughter Ida recently got engaged and he has completed 25 years in the film industry.