Now Amitabh plays Abhishek's grandad!

Amitabh Bachchan is known to sign on unusual roles and the latest is that the superstar will play his son Abhishek's grandad in Rakeysh Mehra's forthcoming 'Dilli 6'.

Mehra's semi-autobiographical film has Abhishek playing the lead and also stars Sonam Kapoor, who made her debut in 'Saawariya'. He also roped in Amitabh to play a specially written cameo.

Confirming the news, Amitabh said: 'I play Abhishek's grandfather in Dilli 6.'

Interestingly, the film already has veteran actress Waheeda Rehman. And one of the Big B's incentives for stepping into the picture so late is to share screen space with his favourite actress.

Amitabh has earlier worked with Mehra in 'Aks'. And with 'Dilli 6' almost complete, Mehra already has plans of casting Amitabh in his next film unusually titled 'Paanch Kaurav'.

'It's too early to talk about 'Paanch Kaurav'. But it's in the caper-adventure genre. And it would be my third film with the Big B. I couldn't get luckier. I've also done three films with Abhishek,' chuckled Mehra, whose last film was 'Rang De Basanti'.

'I was supposed to do Abhishek's launch film 'Samjhauta Express' and then we were to do 'Bhairavi' (with all the three Bachchans including Jaya). We had gone so deep into the discussions that we both feel we've already worked in those two films together. So our comfort level in 'Dilli 6' is as high as it would be for any director-actor team that has done three films together,' the director said.

"Why target Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan" - Anubhav Sinha

Anubhav Sinha is amused that Health Ministry may actually be looking at banning on-screen drinking. He is particularly flustered that Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan are being targeted as they are supposedly contributing to the 'bad habits' like drinking and smoking.

"First of all, we must remember that cinema and society borrow from each other. It must have been the society not the movies that started smoking and drinking first. Cinema and society reflect each other. So both must take the onus. If no nation in the world can 'afford to' ban smoking or drinking, we must accept that we need to learn to co exist with both", argues Anubhav Sinha.

He further questions, "Does the government have the authority, reason or control or courage if I may to tell 'the nation' to stop drinking or smoking? Then what gives them the authority to tell Shah Rukh to stop smoking or Amitji to not drink in the movies?"

Reflecting on the political scenario in the country, Anubhav goes on to add, "We know our health minister mostly for the digs at the film industry while we know Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav for the complete and continuous changeover in the Indian Railways. I recommend him to actually contribute to the average and basic health of an average Indian than getting published for mediocre reasons."

So where he does he feel that celebrities could come in handy to spread the message? "I might as well request and mobilize celebrities to adopt X number of patients every year and mobilize treatment and education for them. At least it will serve a purpose and generate respectable news", suggests Anubhav.

Going back to Amitabh Bachchan, Anubhav says, "While we over-hype the bad effects of smoking and drinking in the movies, we must remember that the nation is fully aware that Amitabh Bachchan himself quit smoking forty years back. That should be inspiring enough."

How about Shah Rukh Khan, "Come on, Shah Rukh Khan repeatedly mentions that smoking is a terrible habit and he is trying his best everyday to quit. The audience knows this as much as it knows that he smokes. Let's stop cracking jokes man and get on with work. There are far bigger things to actually worry about."

Exclusive: Sarkar Raj Movie Preview

“Power cannot be given…it has to be taken,” says the punchline of Ram Gopal Varma’s film ‘Sarkar Raj’.

The movie stars Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in leading roles.
Don’t miss the film’s slideshow (story in pictures) at Sarkar Raj .

While Sarkar was inspired from Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Godfather’, ‘Sarkar Raj’ has nothing to do with ‘Godfather 2’. It also does not take off from where ‘Sarkar’ ended. In Ram Gopal Varma ’s words, ‘Sarkar Raj’ is about a new episode, full of political adventure, in the life of the Nagre family.

Characters:

Amitabh Bachchan as Sarkar
Big B plays Sarkar or Subhash Nagre, whom the people regard as their messiah. Having come up the hard way, he knows the pulse of his people and does what he thinks is best for them…law and system be damned.

Abhishek Bachchan as Shankar Nagre
Shankar is a management graduate from the US. He has been helping his father (Sarkar) in his services to the people. He is shown in the film as a sophisticated individual with leadership skills in politics. He desires to bring business and prosperity to his land and the common people.

Aishwarya Rai as Anita Rajan
Anita is an aggressive and highly ambitious business woman from London. She will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. She unwittingly unleashes a vicious war between the forces of tradition and progress.

Synopsis:

The film is an intense political drama and is essentially a study of power. It explores the politics of development and takes a fresh look at the tradition versus modernity debate.

When Anita Rajan (Aishwarya Rai), CEO of Sheppard Power Plant, an international company, brings a power plant proposal to set up in rural Maharashtra before the Nagres, an insightful Shankar (Abhishek Bachchan) is quick to realize the benefits the power plant can bring to the people.

After convincing Sarkar (Amitabh Bachchan), who is against it for various reasons, Shankar undertakes a journey along with Anita to the villages of Maharashtra to mobilize support from the masses.

However, things are not what they seem to be and Shankar’s dream project gradually becomes a political minefield.

It is against this backdrop, evil forces mightier than ever, gang up together to bring down the regime of Sarkar and obliterate Sarkar’s name from political horizon.

‘Sarkar Raj’ is Ash and Abhi’s first film together after their marriage last year. Incidentally, the film’s first look was unveiled on April 20, 2008, which was also their first wedding anniversary.

Interestingly, Ash and Abhi are ideologically pitted against each other in the film. He believes in making money for the people. While Aishwarya’s character believes in making money from the people.

‘Sarkar Raj’ is produced by Praveen Nishcol and Ram Gopal Varma. The film’s story is written by Prashant Pandey and its music is by Bappi-Tutul. The background music is by Amar Mohile.

‘Sarkar Raj’ is set to release in June, 2008.