Exclusive! Uunchai director Sooraj Barjatya: Amitabh Bachchan narrates dialogues in two-three ways before giving his take

Amitabh Bachchan’s presence and professionalism even at the age of 80 is inspiring for many. After being in the industry for nearly half a century, this megastar has collaborated with filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya for the first time in their recently released film, Uunchai. When OTTplay caught up with Sooraj, in a candid chat, he revealed what working with one of the most legendary actors in B-Town is like. 

The filmmaker stressed that Big B has one of the most fascinating ways of working and shows respect towards written words. Sooraj told OTTplay, "As we all know that Mr. Bachchan is a very strong personality, it is only natural for any filmmaker to get influenced and impressed by him when you are directing him; for everything that he is, be the professional that he is or his dedication towards the work at the age of 80! But I want to mention this - that sir knew the art of respecting written words." 

Elaborating on his point, the veteran added, "He respects our writers and the written words and does not like any changes in that. He is one of those veteran actors who would never ask to change a dialogue. Rather, he would sit down with the writer and director and ask what was the writer thinking while writing these words. It's almost like he would decode the mind of the writer because he values every single word that is written on paper." 

According to him, senior Bachchan also discusses how the words should be uttered with his director. He really gets into the scene and tries to give the best out of it. 

Sooraj said, "Kabhi kabhi same word ka tone change karne se, matlab badal jaata hai. Amit ji would sit with me and say the dialogue in two to three different ways and ask me in which way I envisioned it. It's a fascinating process for us to work on each scene with Mr. Bachchan. Even after working for so many years, he submits himself to a director. He is magical." 

Uunchai, directed and produced by Sooraj Barjatya, stars Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Neena Gupta, Sarika, Parineeti Chopra and Danny Denzonpa in the lead roles. The movie is currently running in theatres and will announce its OTT release soon.