‘Disturbed’ Jaya Bachchan was asked by director to imagine son Abhishek Bachchan in a dying scene: ‘Actors are puppets’

In a recent interview, actor Abhishek Bachchan opened up about his mother Jaya Bachchan feeling disturbed after a director asked her to imagine her son in a dying scene.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | October 3, 2025 05:50 PM IST

2 min read

Abhishek Bachchan on mother Jaya Bachchan feeling disturbed after director asked her to imagine her son in a dying scene

Actor Abhishek Bachchan has previously called his mother, veteran star Jaya Bachchan his emotional anchor, crediting her for instilling strong family values in him. In a recent interview, he recalled how Jaya once came home distressed after a director asked her to imagine her own child in a dying scene.

In a conversation with ETimes, Abhishek recalled an incident when he saw his mother, Jaya, deeply disturbed after a shoot. He shared the anecdote while reflecting on the emotional toll actors face when immersing themselves in a character. Abhishek said that after years away from the camera, Jaya returned in the 1990s with Govind Nihalani’s Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa. At the time, he was working as an assistant director, and he vividly remembered her coming home shaken from the experience.

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Jaya Bachchan looked very disturbed, so Abhishek Bachchan asked her what happened. She said, “I had to do a scene where I had to go and identify the body of my son. I didn’t understand.” Abhishek added that Govind Nihalani had given his mother a particular instruction for the scene—he asked her to imagine that it was Abhishek’s body lying there.

He said, “This sounds really harsh, but that’s what actors go through. Even if he had not said that, that’s what she would have imagined to make that emotion real. You bring a lot of your personal stuff into your work.” Abhishek also mentioned that the performance of an actor is primarily dependent on the director and actors are just mere puppets.

On the professional front, Abhishek Bachchan was last seen in ZEE5’s Kaalidhar Laapata, opposite Nimrat Kaur and Daivik Baghela. He is currently busy shooting for Siddharth Anand’s King, alongside Shah Rukh Khan and his daughter Suhana Khan. The action drama will hit theatres in 2027.

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