Farhan Akhtar answers if he tried to ‘teach’ acting to Amitabh Bachchan during Lakshya, says Big B ‘was taking time to perform’: ‘Could’ve hurt him’

Farhan Akhtar recalled the incident when he might have unintentionally hurt Amitabh Bachchan when he 'tried to teach' Big B acting, explaining that he was only trying to ensure the shoot ran efficiently.

Amitabh Bachchan portrayed Colonel Sunil Damle in the film.

Farhan Akhtar shared his memories of working with the legendary Amitabh Bachchan on Lakshya.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | November 11, 2025 03:53 PM IST

5 min read

Farhan Akhtar may have reimagined Amitabh Bachchan’s iconic Don and sparked endless debates over who played the character better, Big B or Shah Rukh Khan. But that doesn’t mean the filmmaker isn’t a huge admirer of Bachchan. In fact, Farhan even directed the legendary superstar in the 2004 film Lakshya, which also starred Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta, and Om Puri. In a recent conversation on Aap Ki Adalat, Farhan opened up about what it was like to work with the megastar and addressed an old claim made by Bachchan himself, that a young Farhan, then only one film old as a director, once tried to “teach” him acting.

Farhan Akhtar accepts he might have hurt Amitabh Bachchan

Responding to this with honesty and humour, Farhan clarified: “No, no. This isn’t what I intended. I very vividly remember what happened. It was his first day of shoot for the film and we were shooting in Army Cantonment. And I was fairly young and for the first time I was trying to familiarise myself with the discipline associated in army life. Everything there is so driven by time and so much punctuality that you don’t have any liberty of exceeding the time. So the authorities had very clearly instructed us that you will come to cantonment at this time and by this hour you have to pack up and leave. So I was very stressed and wanted everything to be done immediately so that there isn’t any delay or lag, and don’t have to take permission all over again.”

Amid this intense pressure, Farhan recalled how he began directing Bachchan for his maiden scene: “So it was his first day, and he was taking time to get it done in terms of performance. And from my end I was only thinking there is so much pressure upon me, so if I just go and talk to him in a room about if he is facing any difficulty, or I can help in understanding, so that from there onwards, we are efficient on set. It is very much possible that this enthusiasm of mine, might have not gone well with him, that a young director is telling him if there is any problem, let’s talk about it. It could possibly would have hurt him. So I understood this later that he might have felt bad and I did apologise to him for that. And as I said my intention wasn’t that, it was simply that whatever we were doing if we could just speed it up.”

He went on to share how easy it was to collaborate with the veteran actor on Lakshya, recalling Bachchan’s professionalism and dedication. “It was very easy to work with him, he is a thorough professional,” Farhan said, adding that he vividly remembers an early morning sunrise shoot where Bachchan arrived even before the crew to get into the character and the rhythm of the scene.

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Amitabh said ‘ustad’ Farhan tried to teach him acting

Interestingly, just last month on Kaun Banega Crorepati, when Farhan appeared on the hot seat alongside his father, veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar, Bachchan recounted the same incident. He had recalled how Lakshya set had a vibe he had never encountered before. “For the first time, I was exposed to an atmosphere which was quite new. Hum log toh haste-khelte kaam karte the (We were very laid back and chill while working.) That atmosphere wasn’t there. I couldn’t get the dialogues out of my mouth. A lot of retakes were happening, and I thought that this was a bit embarrassing, and finally, Farhan decided to pack up for the day,” Big B said.

He said: “My experience of working with him on the film was… he came to my room at night and asked, ‘Amit uncle, are you having some problem?’. Hamein laga ki yeh ustaad hai jo hamein keh rahein hai ‘beta, acting aise hoti hai’ (I thought I was an amateur, and this master was teaching me how to act).”

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An emotional Bachchan called Jaya for advice

Bachchan had added, “The moment Farhan left my room, I called my wife, Jaya (Jaya Bachchan). I was very emotional and told her about what happened and said, ‘They are telling me that I don’t know how to act.’ She told me, ‘Amit ji, if you are not happy, then pack your bags and come back.’ I thought that leaving might worsen things, but after that night, I became very comfortable, and the rest of the shoot was very nice”.

Farhan Akhtar is now gearing up for the release of his upcoming film 120 Bahadur, slated to hit theatres on November 21.