Aby146;s Babies

Farhan Akhtar, 30, who8217;s come with wife Adhuna, sister Zoya and mum Honey, is on his third bhang and is beginning to feel the crowds close in. Outsiders Samir Karnik, 29, and 30-something Mukul Abhyankar are steering clear of the potent stuff. It8217;s their first Holi with the Bachchans and they are just soaking in the sights of a Bollywood gone wet and wild.

8216;8216;I missed it, I was out of town,8217;8217; says Sujoy Ghosh, 37, over some full-bodied iced coffee on a steamy Mumbai afternoon. He groans when I inform him that Bachchan has said yes to Abhyankar8217;s Dogs, a dark tale of dominance that reunites him with old friend Rishi Kapoor after 13 years. 8216;8216;Are you sure? What8217;s going to happen to my dates?8217;8217; His anxiety is understandable.

In the superstar8217;s world, you have to be pencilled in years in advance. It took Ghosh eight months to make contact and then five meetings to convince Bachchan to part with an uninterrupted 60 days for his comic-thriller Borivali. Bollywood-crazy Ghosh, who once worked in the marketing department of business wire Reuters, begins shooting next year in summer.

To this clutch of starters, Bachchan is coolness personified. A hero of almost mythical proportions who rarely disappoints when they finally meet him. A dude who can easily match their knowledge of wheels, gizmos, lounge music and last week8217;s Champions League game.

And, most importantly, a man who is no longer inaccessible8212;if they just try hard enough. So what if their first flick bombed or if they want to leap straight into Bollywood8217;s big league?

8216;8216;He could be fussy but he8217;s chosen not to be. He8217;s made himself approachable to young film-makers,8217;8217; says Akhtar. Clad in jeans, a black turtleneck and a woollen cap, Akhtar looks like he8217;s still in chilly Leh, where he shot his second movie Lakshya with Bachchan. The film, eagerly awaited after his debut blockbuster Dil Chahta Hai, is out in June.

Bachchan8217;s take is straightforward. Any young person with a good idea and a meaty role to offer must be given a shot. 8216;8216;They8217;re savvy with modern technology and keen to do things right,8217;8217; says their 61-year-old idol. 8216;8216;Plus they have fresh thinking. What they want is just for you to say your lines.8217;8217;

Yet it8217;s impossible to imagine such access to Bachchan in the previous decades, though he has worked with a sprinkling of younger film-makers like Mukul Anand. Now it8217;s almost as simple as faxing a 8216;8216;Dear Mr Bachchan, my name is Samir Karnik and I would really like to make a film with you8230;8217;8217; note to his office in Mumbai. 8216;8216;I faxed him around five times and six weeks later I got a call to meet him,8217;8217; says Karnik whose Kyun! Ho Gaya Na8230; is due for a summer release. 8216;8216;I was way too nervous, I8217;m not from a filmi background and I had never seen actors before.8217;8217; Karnik was just back in town after a stint as a television station manager in Dar es Salaam.

Lakhia didn8217;t have to fax Bachchan. The director just set up an appointment after pal Abhishek casually mentioned what he thought was an interesting role to his father. He got 15 minutes between 4.45 and 5.00 pm on the sets of Deewar and Bachchan said yes to Just Punjabi, an action comedy about two people a slick Reid 038; Taylor-styled Bachchan and a Punjabi cop played by Sanjay Dutt from totally different worlds. Lakhia says next year8217;s long outdoor in Canada is his once-in-a-lifetime chance to hang out with 8216;8216;God and a rock star8217;8217;. The first time this former courier boy met Bachchan was on the sets of his debut Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost8212;he was there to celebrate the new year with Abhishek. 8216;8216;He sat behind the monitor, I had to curb my language.8217;8217; The usually chatty Lakhia turns quiet when he8217;s around the superstar.

Of course, it8217;s not that easy to gain entry into the club. Bachchan8217;s Mumbai office fields calls from hundreds of hopefuls every week. 8216;8216;A lot of people pretend they can set up a meeting with him,8217;8217; reveals Ghosh.

Abhyankar tried all kinds of avenues for one and a half years. After watching silently from the sidelines, an old friend of the superstar finally decided to step in. Two days later they had an audience and Bachchan was sitting in front of him listening expressionless, hand playing with his hair always a good sign as Abhyankar detailed the beginning of his first Bollywood project for more than an hour. 8216;8216;Why Rottweilers, not Dobermann?8217;8217; was one of the very few queries Bachchan had that day about his role as a dog trainer with an almost magnetic aura.

The first narration is a harrowing experience for most. 8216;8216;I thought he was falling off to sleep,8217;8217; says Karnik. 8216;8216;There was not even a blink, not an expression.8221; Agrees Sippy: 8216;8216;The stillness can unnerve you. 8216;Is he bored? Is he listening?8217; you wonder.8217;8217;

8216;8216;In a narration, only one person does the talking,8217;8217; retorts an amused Bachchan. 8216;8216;I just listen.8217;8217; A great conversationalist he may not be during that first meeting, but he certainly lives up to his larger-than-life image. 8216;8216;He doesn8217;t shatter the illusion,8217;8217; says Ghosh. 8216;8216;You have no regrets about being a fan for 20 years.8217;8217; Karnik says he enjoyed Bachchan8217;s company in Coorg, while they were filming. 8216;8216;He8217;s very funny,8217;8217; says the director who started out with a degree in international relations and an idea that he would join the United Nations.

Sometimes, an official meeting is overwhelming even when you8217;re an insider. Now that Bachchan has agreed to do his yet-untitled flick, Rohan Sippy has the weight of cult classic Sholay a movie his father made with Bachchan 19 years ago resting squarely on his slight shoulders. 8216;8216;The fact that he8217;s worked so closely with my father just adds to the myth,8217;8217; he says.

For Sippy, Bachchan is the ultimate hero. Currently he8217;s thrilled about the Gehri Chaal 1973 poster he8217;s just picked up from Chor Bazaar. 8216;8216;For our generation, he8217;s it,8217;8217; says the director whose first memories of Bachchan are of someone towering over him as a three-year-old.

Because they grew up on a staple of angry young man roles, this generation of directors wants to give the guy a new spin. So with the exception of Ghosh, who says, 8216;8216;I would like him to be the Amitabh Bachchan he was,8217;8217; the others want to experiment. Sippy8217;s clear his will be a father-son comedy with Bachchan as an earthy character from UP. For Lakhia he8217;s 8216;8216;coolness personified8217;8217;. A sophisticated, articulate, with-it man8212;the kind who will drive his Range Rover up to a five-star hotel and park it himself. 8216;8216;I really want to bring out his human, relaxed side,8217;8217; says the director. As Abhishek8217;s friend, Lakhia has encountered that side often.

He gathered more than 45 Jaya and Amitabh DVDs and baby home videos of their son, worked straight from 10 pm to 6 am and spliced together a film for his pal8217;s last birthday party. 8216;8216;I8217;m really scared,8217;8217; he confesses about the forthcoming film. 8216;8216;My father hasn8217;t made movies with him and that makes me work harder.8217;8217;

Even when this enthusiastic group meet for the photo, they8217;re mostly interested in comparing those coveted dates. Ghosh holds his head as he tries to work out exactly when his chance comes up next summer. Karnik is the only one who8217;s shot Bachchan already, and everyone wants a piece of that. Soon the stories are flowing.

About how Bachchan8217;s first take is always his best, and if you want him to keep redoing the shot, you better have a good reason. And about the time there8217;s a couple of seconds in a shot when the camera pans slowly and Bachchan asks, 8216;What am I supposed to do here?8217; 8216;8216;Err, don8217;t know sir,8217;8217; Karnik stammers. That was the first and last time I said that, he recalls. 8216;8216;After that, I8217;m over prepared, every second accounted for.8217;8217; And about the time Bachchan took charge of the kids on the sets. 8216;8216;Samir, tell me the instructions, I8217;ll keep the monsters in check.8217;8217;

Yet they always avoid discussing their films. 8216;8216;We never talk about our upcoming project with Bachchan,8217;8217; says Lakhia, who may encounter Sippy and Akhtar socially. 8216;8216;I guess we8217;re all insecure.8217;8217;