When Amitabh Bachchan’s work ethic made Avinash Gowariker wonder if he’s an Abbas-Mustan character with a secret twin: ‘Are there two of you?’

Celebrity photographer Avinash Gowariker recalled working with Amitabh Bachchan, whom he described as 'a technicians' delight'.

Amitabh Bachchan is often praised for his punctuality. (Photo: Amitabh Bachchan/ Twitter)

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Celebrity photographer Avinash Gowariker recalled working with Amitabh Bachchan, whom he described as a ‘god’. In a new interview, he also narrated an incident which made him wonder if the actor has a body double who secretly takes over from him, as if he’s an Abbas-Mustan character. Avinash was expressing how impressed he is by Amitabh’s work ethic, even at his age.

In an appearance on Cyrus Broacha’s podcast, Avinash said that he was called to shoot a campaign with Amitabh by actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar. He said that at that time, he would be introduced as ‘Ashutosh Gowariker’s brother’, which worked out well for him. The actor walked up to him and asked, “What do you want me to do?” Avinash was overwhelmed, because he knew that he couldn’t give instructions to Amitabh, so he nudged Mahesh and asked him what they should do.

Also read | ‘Salman Khan had boycotted all photographers at the time’: Avinash Gowariker recalls how Bhai’s impromptu shoot ‘with a gun’ changed Judwaa climax

But over time, he developed a comfortable working relationship with the actor, whom he called ‘a technician’s delight’ because of how graciously he surrenders to the photographer’s vision. “It’s impossible to keep up with him,” Avinash said, revealing how embarrassed he feels about his back problem around Amitabh, who always seems to be on his toes. “One day, I showed up for a shoot at 11 am. His blog says 4 am, Jalsa. 9 o’clock Mr Bachchan was on set. I said, ‘Sir, are there two of you?’ Kuch lafda hai, Abbas-Mustan picture chal rahi hai (something fishy is going on, this is an Abbas-Mustan movie).”

He also said that every time he advises Amitabh to ‘chill’ or ‘go on a holiday’, the response he gets is ‘why’ and ‘to do what?’ “He genuinely is not understanding what I’m trying to say,” Avinash said. In the same interview, the photographer also recalled anecdotes about working with icons of the Hindi film industry such as Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and the late Sridevi.

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