‘Amitabh Bachchan got so mad and shouted at me in front of everyone’: R Balki recalls harrowing first shot of his filmmaking career

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“There was a scene where he fires all the chefs in the kitchen. He shouted at all of them, exactly the way a person is supposed to. I looked and didn’t know how to say it to him. More than a director, I’m a fan of his. I asked him if we could do one more take. He immediately asked me, ‘but why?’ I said, ‘a little less’ (intending to tone down his performance and expressions). He went around and did the same thing once again. I looked at him and said, ‘little down’. He glared at me, went back, walked around and did exactly the same thing,” he said during a session at MIT World Peace University.

“By this point, I am just looking at my cameraman. There’s a struggle. Bachchan said, ‘everything’s fine. Let’s go to the next shot.’ And I said, ‘Amit ji, one more.’ He got so mad and shouted at me in front of everyone: ‘What do you want me to do yaar? What the hell are you? You just want me to stand there and say things with no expression, without using my hands? I said, ‘yeah.’ Then he came, without moving his hand, he fired that guy without one expression on his face. Bang on! He (Bachchan) just looked at me, went in to his trailer and he called me after 10 minutes said, ‘I got the film.’ This was the very first day of shoot and I wanted to say what’s the tone of the film, which is ‘expressionless expressions of emotions.’ It’s about a man who cannot express his emotions,” he added.

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Also starring Paresh Rawal, Zohra Sehgal and Swini Khara in key roles, Cheeni Kum received both critical acclaim and commercial success upon its release. The movie was also premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. While its cinematography was handled by PC Sreeram, Cheeni Kum was edited by Chandan Arora and its music was crafted by Ilaiyaraaja.