Amitabh Bachchan's Badla: What to expect from the movie

The formidable duo who are teaming up again, post their Pink outing, in Sujoy Ghosh's revenge thriller Badla out this Friday, talk about the lure of cinema among other things

After towering high with their spellbinding performance in the gritty courtroom drama Pink, Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu are back with the suspense thriller Badla which means revenge. 
These powerhouse talents are not only from two different generations but they approach acting also very differently. Amitabh, who completes 50 years in the film industry this year, believes in rehearsing a lot, his firehouse co-star Taapsee who is entering her 9th year in the industry is more spontaneous. She believes in giving her 100 % in the first take as she feels drained post the rehearsal. Even with such distinct methods of acting, together they create magic on screen. 
With Badla, they team up with director Sujoy Ghosh who is a master in creating suspense thrillers, having directed the edge of the seat thriller Kahaani with Vidya Balan. Badla was first offered to Taapsee who immediately suggested Sujoy's name to the producers.
Badla is an official adaptation of the 2017 Spanish film Contratiempo (The Invisible Guest.) However, if you don't know the story of this film, it is challenging to make out the story through the trailers. "It is a roller coaster of a ride when you work on a murder mystery because nothing should be revealed so conveniently and that's what makes the ride fun. This film is crazy. I was telling my friends to wait till they see the rolling titles, because you never know what will happen till the movie finishes," said Taapsee in an interview with City Times. 
Just like Pink, Badla will see Amitabh as a lawyer and Taapsee as his client. So what attracted the legendary actor towards this film? "The story of the film and the character I play," said Amitabh in an email interview with City Times. 
The 76-year-old superstar, who is considered an epitome of talent and skills, is also one of the most disciplined actors from the industry. 
To get a perspective on his legacy, we asked him if the camera disappears for him once he is deep into a character. "We all hope we can achieve that frame of mind, for me personally that shall always be the challenge; I am not very adept at it. I cannot say about the others, but when I observe some other colleagues of mine, I am so impressed by this excellent quality of theirs, that they possess and execute with such dexterity."
For Taapsee, working with Amitabh is as normal as working with Varun Dhawan or Abhishek Bachchan because "that nervousness" finished after the first day of working in Pink. "I don't feel that nervousness anymore. I feel when you are working with an actor like him, it gets a lot more challenging because when I perform in front of him, your job becomes easy as all that you are doing is reacting. He automatically gets the performance out of you with the way he performs.
"I treat Big B just the way I would treat Varun or Abhishek. I don't put him on a pedestal where he is inaccessible or make him someone who is a demi-god where he feels disconnected. He wouldn't know how to respond to people who treat him like a demi-god. I don't do that, and that works in my favour, and it makes the equation between us quite chilled." 
To make his co-stars and directors feel at ease is a skill in which Bachchan excels. But what are his aspirations as an actor who has done at least 188 movies and is considered as the greatest actor of the century? To continually have the energy and excitement of a newcomer is the most significant learning as an actor for Bachchan. "My most important lesson in the last few years is that you were a novice. you are a novice. and shall forever be a novice. Also, to be natural in front of the camera. I am still trying to learn it!"  
'I am honest and real'
Being honest, transparent and straightforward has worked wonders  for Taapsee who does not come from a film family. She has earned the faith of the audience by being earnest and loyal about acting on her instinct and not playing safe, by doing movies like Mulk, Baby, Manmarziyaan, etc. She says she does not know any other way than to be honest. "If I like a film honestly, only then I sign it, I don't have any other alternate agenda to do a film, ever. I think my honesty reflects in my film. Also, I am sluggish to be anything but honest. It takes a lot of effort to put up a facade, and I am a little lazy. Hence I keep it real as it makes my life simple. I like being connected with my audiences, and that's my strength. I have survived by keeping it simple, and I hope I stay like this forever." 
To achieve blind faith of her audience is her aspiration. After getting a great response for her movies like Manmarziyaan, Mulk, Soorma last year, Taapsee realised that her audience is on the same page with her and that gave her the strength to push the envelope further. She also believes that maybe many directors are casting her because of her distinct curly hair. "They want my hair to be part of their film because it's a character in itself to have this kind of curly hair!" 
Vision of the filmmaker 
Shah Rukh's Red Chillies Entertainment is producing the film, and the Piku star describes Khan as a 'generous' producer. Big B also worked with director Sujoy in his debut film Aladin that released in 2009. In spite of his seniority, it was essential for Bachchan to respect his director's motive. "For me, it is critical that I follow my director. Hence I just followed what Sujoy asked me to do! I need to go with the vision and graph of the director." 
Taapsee added that she had to make sure that she worked on multiple aspects of her character by being mentally present on the set. "The trick in this kind of a film is that you have multiple layers, but I wanted to know which layer I was serving at which time. You cannot open all your cards in the same go. You have to be careful which side of your personality you are showing, so the audience doesn't know what you are hiding. At one particular time, you want audiences to believe in your intention before you open the next card. The next transition needs to be smooth from one layer to another. This kind of film cannot be mastered in a workshop."
 

The psychotic side of being an actor
 
Taapsee says that playing intense roles can affect her mentally in a significant way as she works on one film at a time. "You are psyching your brain out to be someone else. After more than a month, when you come back home, it's not that you can wash that thing out of your mind. I cannot. It comes back home with me and lingers for a while. It takes me a while to shake it off. Working on this film (Badla) was very draining as we used to have this intense conversation sitting across the table every day. Talking for hours and hours in this film was mentally draining. I feel like a psycho person after every film as it alters a little bit of my mental fragment. It does alter you as a person I feel." She needs to go on a holiday post every film, "otherwise I will go mad if I keep jumping from one film to another. I do around four films a year, and it is important for me to rejuvenate. I shot for Badla last summer, and I was in the UAE for a week to take a break."
 
 
CALLING OUT UNPROFESSIONALISM
Taapsee recently accused the makers of Pati Patni Aur Woh of unprofessionalism for unceremoniously dropping her from the film overnight. So what made her speak out? "Two reasons -  I don't want any other actor to go through what I went through. Second, I am in a secure position where I can call out such practices which are wrong, and people won't question me saying that I am doing it because she does not have work." 
 
Rapid fire round with Big B
 
Does box office success matter to you?
If you succeed good. if not, you try harder.
 
You have been part of the industry for more than four decades, what do you think of the progress of women-centric movies over the years?
It may seem to you that there has been progress in women-centric films, but that is not an entirely correct observation. Women-centric films have been made all along in our film industry's very illustrious over 100-year existence!
 
Amazon, Netflix, etc. are challenging cinema. Is cinema under threat?  
No, if there is no cinema, there will be no content for Amazon and Netflix.
 
Do you want to play roles that you relate to or ones that terrify you? 
I would always just, want to play a role, that promises me another job opportunity. 
 
arti@khaleejtimes.com