Amitabh Bachchan recalls his SCREEN memories, recalls how unsafe film sets used to be when he started out: ‘There was always a fear…’

Amitabh recalled that unlike the other publications of the time, SCREEN avoided any kind of sensationalism. “There was no gossip about film stars. There was just information about films and just some very good writings about the film industry,” he said.

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Amitabh then spoke about the changes that he has observed in the film industry in the last few decades. Talking about moving on from film to digital, and the introduction of VFX and AI, Amitabh said that change is a part of the process, but what he really appreciates is the “change in the nature of workers” on set.

“During my time, these workers worked assiduously. Sometimes bare feet, just about wearing very soiled pyjama kurtas and coming to work and doing all kinds of very dangerous work like climbing up the tarafas on their own. There’s always the fear of them falling and there were a few incidents where we had very serious injuries,” he said. He said that things have changed now, and crew members have better communication on set because of improvements in technology. “That is what I noticed then. And I notice the workers today and I see all of them in very modern attire. Jeans and t-shirts and wearing sneakers and all of them wearing these walkie-talkie sets so they can communicate,” he said.

The grand Screen launch was held in Mumbai.

SCREEN was launched in 1951, and remains one of the most reputed brands in the entertainment industry. The SCREEN Awards that started in the 1990s, are now remembered as one of the most credible awards of their time.