Abhishek Bachchan’s Manmarziyaan has already created quite a buzz amongst the audience. Manmarziyaan is Jr Bachchan's first release in two years after Housefull 3 which released in 2016. The actor took a sabbatical to analyze his career and then move forward. In a recent interview to a leading daily, Abhishek spoke about his upcoming film and what made him sign the project. He also spoke about the director Anurag Kashyap with whom he had worked in Mani Ratnam’s Yuva and how they had creative differences during the film.
Abhishek revealed that he landed the role in Manmarziyaan in January last year when he was on an indefinite break. He said, “I had started listening to scripts since the last year-and-a-half. Aanand L Rai spoke to me and told me he had this script and wanted me to hear it. I’ve known him and have immense respect for him as a filmmaker. He sent across Kanika Dhillon, the film’s writer, who narrated it to me and I liked it. I had one or two notes which she sweetly agreed to try and incorporate. There were a couple of more meetings in which we just discussed the script. At the end of it, I told Aanand that I liked the story but I asked him who’s directing the film. Then, he said Anurag will be helming the movie. I was like Anurag who? He told me, it’s Anurag Kashyap. After 15 seconds, I just said it’s great.”
Abhishek also said that he was mildly surprised with the fact that Anurag was directing the film. Explaining his “15-second pause” he said, “Because the film is a love triangle. You don’t use Anurag Kashyap and love stories in the same sentence. But it looked interesting and I knew it would be a challenge. I feel he has a unique creative voice and his craft is fantastic. He knows how to do things from a different perspective and he had an interesting take on the story. Then, we met and within a minute, I knew this was absolutely the right decision. He just blew me away with how he wanted to treat the film. He was a bit nervous about what I’d say. And within four to six weeks of me saying yes, I was on set in Amritsar.”
Apparently, there were a few creative differences between Abhishek and Anurag which had to be ironed out. Talking about it, Abhishek said that the differences are history now. He further added, “I first worked with Anurag in Mani Ratnam’s Yuva; he had written it. I don’t think he liked my work in the film. And it’s only fair because we had spent a lot of time doing readings for the film. So somewhere, maybe he felt a little disappointed when he watched the movie. But we never spoke about it."
He further added, "Now, we’ve put all that behind us. Manmarziyaan ticked all the boxes because I instinctively knew that I wanted to be uncomfortable, have sleepless nights and this guy was going to help me do that. Also, I would never allow ego to come in the way of my work.”
Abhishek and Anurag have ironed out their differences and after Manmarziyaan they are teaming up once again in Gulab Jamun that also stars Abhishek's wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
