Amitabh Bachchan did Eklavya for free; director refused to pay for hotel, plane too

Amitabh Bachchan arranged for his own private plane, paid for his accomodation

In the book, Unscripted: Conversations on Life and Cinema, written by Chopra and Abhijat Joshi, he recalled the anecdote, “When the shoot was over, he wanted a private plane to take him back to Bombay. I had to refuse because the budget couldn’t be stretched. He chartered a plane from Jodhpur and paid for it himself, and Anu (Anupama Chopra, wife) and I hitched a plane ride with him. I hadn’t paid Amitabh for the film, yet he gave me one of my first private plane rides.”

He also recalled how the hotel room requested by Bachchan’s team was costing Rs 65,000 more than the assigned budget for his stay, so Bachchan paid for his own accommodation. Chopra recalled that this was the reason why he gifted Bachchan a Rolls-Royce worth Rs 4.5 crore after the film, to thank the star for his generosity.

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Jaya Bachchan was certain Amitabh and Vinod would fight on set

The shoot for Eklavya faced a few ups and downs in the early days and at one point, Chopra even fired Bachchan from the film, and decided to replace him with Sanjay Dutt, who was playing another role in the film. He shared that he had to complete the shoot in just 37 days, and because they wanted to wrap the shoot quickly, they decided to use two cameras, which wasn’t the norm back then.

When Bachchan arrived for the schedule in Rajasthan, which was supposed to last for over a month, he only came with a few bags. Chopra asked him the reason behind the same and was told that Jaya was sure that the two would argue, and Bachchan would be back home sooner than expected. “Jaya has sent all my things. She is sure I will be back in a week and believes we can’t work together, and there’s no way I will stay longer than a week,” he recalled Bachchan saying.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra gifted Amitabh Bachchan a Rolls-Royce after Eklavya. (Photo: Express Archives)

When Vidhu Vinod Chopra fired Amitabh Bachchan for coming late on set

And Jaya’s prophecy almost came true just as Bachchan started shooting. On the first day of their shoot, Amitabh was late, and Vinod missed the morning light which was necessary for the shot. “You can’t come bloody late on the set, yaar! I missed my magic hour light. I can’t take the shot now. We have to reschedule-the light has gone. So I don’t like you at this moment, Amit,” he told Bachchan.

The next day, Amitabh was late again and once again, Vinod couldn’t get the desired shot. The third day was even more important now, and once again, Bachchan wasn’t on set. “I completely lost it. I could see my light disappearing. I knew I had lost the shot. I came down from the crane and saw Sanjay Dutt standing there. I told him: ‘Put on Eklavya’s costume, you’re not playing Pannalal Chohar but Eklavya’. End of story. I’m done with Bachchan,” he recalled.

Vinod was shouting outside Bachchan’s room and asked his line producer how much money had been spent on the film until then. When he was told it was Rs 1 crore, he simply said, “Write it off.” Just at that moment, Bachchan came out of his room. There was a long silence as Bachchan walked towards Chopra wife, Anupama, and asked her, “How do you live with this madman? He is crazy.” She started laughing, he laughed too, and eventually, everyone around had a good laugh about the whole incident.

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Bachchan reached an hour early the next day

This is when Bachchan explained the reason behind his delay and said that costume and make-up were taking longer time than expected. He recalled Bachchan saying, “Do you know how difficult it is to put this beard on? The guys who stick it on my face really stink and they are all over me, and it takes hours. If I showed up on set and the beard was not right, you would scream.” he next day, Chopra told the make-up guys to take a bath with Dettol, and at 4 am, he heard Bachchan screaming. He was later told by the actor that his make-up room smelled like a hospital room.

That day, Bachchan reached the set one hour earlier and when Vinod asked him the reason behind it, he said. “I don’t like to be shouted at, sir. I was playing it safe.”

Bachchan’s couldn’t express what’s in his heart

Eklavya was written with Bachchan in mind, and Vinod said that the main character was “inspired by him.” He recalled that once, when he was travelling with the star in his car, his words had a profound effect on the filmmaker. “I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was on the lines of: ‘You’re a blessed man, Vinod. Whatever you have in your heart, you can spill it out, just like that.’ He tapped his chest and continued: Everything stays inside here! All bottled up. It doesn’t come out. It all stays inside,” he recalled.

When Vinod said that he was Amitabh Bachchan and could do it, Bachchan just said, “Nahin nikaal sakta, yaar. (No, I can’t let it out, my friend.)” Bachchan’s words stayed with him and that’s how he developed the lead character of the film.