Arshad Warsi on first meeting with Jaya Bachchan, says was ready to be ‘fired’ by her: ‘Why not, she is Amitabh Bachchan’s wife…’

“I then choreographed a song in one film and had the funniest experience. I have never said it in public, but I had such an experience that I said, ‘I am not getting into movies, I don’t want to be in this world, not my place.’ The production guy on Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja had asked me how long will I take to choreograph the song, it was complicated, and had a lot of people. I am not talking about Boney (Kapoor), he was too big so I was not dealing with him, I was talking to the production people. I told them I will take four days to finish the song.

“We fixed a price, it was Rs 1 lakh. He said please finish it fast because we are tight on the budget, I said I’ll do the best I can. I worked hard, over time, and finished it in three days. When it came to payment, he gave me Rs 75,000. I asked but what about Rs one lakh? He said that was for four days! I am grateful to them, and because of that I became an actor otherwise, I would have been a choreographer.”

The actor then narrated how he bagged his debut film. Warsi said it was director Joy Augustine, who came over to his home one day and then called him, asking him if he wanted to act in a film he was making for ABCL (Amitabh Bachchan’s production company). Joy told Warsi that he had already spoken to them and just wanted him to send his pictures.

“I said, ‘Dude I can’t act, don’t do this to me!’ You meet people who come here to do a film and they don’t make it, and everyone knows that! It’s like they are out on the streets and people go, ‘Poor guy came from his village to become a hero, he couldn’t. Look at him now travelling in a bus.’ I didn’t want to be that guy!”

The actor then got pictures clicked by a friend and sent them to ABCL and “forgot about it”. Warsi said for him it was just a “formality” and he wasn’t thinking much, until he got a call from Jaya Bachchan, asking him to meet her in the office.

“I thought she is going to fire me! I thought, ‘Hmm Jaya Bachchan, let’s get fired by her, why not, Amitabh Bachchan ki biwi hai! Inke muh se do-chaar gaaliya achchi lagegi, it will be a story in my life.’ So I went thinking I will be fired, but she kept asking me do I speak Hindi, and I kept replying yes I do, in English, I was so nervous. Then she said, ‘You are doing the film.’ I died! I said ab khatam (everything’s over).”

Years later, Arshad Warsi asked Jaya Bachchan what convinced her to take him in her film and she told him that in the 36 photos that he had sent, each had a different expression.