PremiumAmitabh Bachchan on aging and acting: 'Mistakes happen, but I keep going'
Amitabh Bachchan reflects on aging challenges in filmmaking, struggles with memory, and the fleeting nature of stardom, despite continued fan adoration at Jalsa every Sunday.
Last Updated: 09.50 AM, Mar 04, 2025
Amitabh Bachchan often muses over the nature of fame and success as well as the likelihood of the audience drying out finally. But hundreds of people swarm his house, Jalsa, week after week to catch a glimpse of him every Sunday, therefore proving him wrong on a regular basis. Bachchan also agreed in a new blog post that working on movie sets is growing more difficult as he gets older. Frequently requesting directors to give him another chance to correct the errors he believes he has made, he stated he often makes mistakes and struggles to remember conversations. Considered the most successful actor in Hindi film with a lifetime of popularity spanning generations, Bachchan is renowned for his commitment to his work and trade.
Challenges of aging on film sets
Bachchan mentioned in his blog that numerous meetings are scheduled for upcoming work, which presents a challenge of accepting, rejecting, and gently denying. The point is that, despite his lack of knowledge in these areas, the conversations ultimately revolve around the state of the film business and its operations. The question of what he is doing and whether he will be able to do it justice has always been present. Following that, one becomes a haze. The production, the costs, the marketing, the exhibition, etc., are just an unknown, non-understandable dark blur.
As he gets older, he remarked, providing the same material has grown more difficult. And as one ages, it's not only the hurdle of the lines one has to memorise; it's the various age-related contingencies that need to be followed to be able to deliver—deliver content as asked. Then they get home and see the multiple mistakes made; they know how to fix them. They make a midnight call to the director to be given another chance to either improve or fix them.
Fleeting nature of stardom
Bachchan also considered how fleeting stardom is. Another day has elapsed, a new piece of writing has arrived, another EF meeting at the GOJ has begun, and yet more anxiety reigns. They will be there or not, and one senses and notes that the excitement of the well-wishers progressively fades. Professionals fade away in time when the sport does not support the talent and performance they leave behind when the actor confronts the face that does not face the audience. It will be present with all and whatever is claimed to the opposite, the wheel of life never pauses.