It’s a rule in the game of cards that when you are playing with lower cards, you hold them close to your chest, ‘coz the stakes are high and it’s easy to call the bluff. When you are riding a fading horse, you need to crack the whip, ‘coz one wrong step and the race is over.

 After all life is a gamble and not everyone can hit the jackpot. The rest just have to cut down on their risks and make the most of what they can get. Abhishek Bachchan may have played the ‘Bluffmaster’ with aplomb on screen, but off it, he’s often been dealt a tough hand.

Every move of his gets questioned, every failure magnified and his every success taken with a pinch of salt. So it’s only obvious that his natural instinct is to guard his base and protect his stakes. His ongoing tussle with director Rakeysh Mehra on the sets of ‘Delhi 6’ seems like an exercise in the same vein.

Abhishek’s might be a unique case where things were doubly hard for him because of his lineage. In an industry where nepotism is so rife, being even remotely connected to the film world gives you a free hand here. But not for Abhishek, despite being the son of the biggest superstar the country has seen and an accomplished actress.

 In fact that was the exact reason that was weighed against him and Abhishek had to prove himself time and again. He had already displayed immense potential and maturity in his debut, ‘Refugee’. But audiences and industry’s own expectations were sky high. The film’s failure was unexpected but what followed was shocking. One after another Abhi’s films fell like nine pins; though he was winning critical acclaim for his performances, the audience remained unforgiving.

But Abhishek persevered with as much honesty as was seen in his on-screen portrayals. And then one fine day things changed all of a sudden. When not many people besides his family and himself had belief in him still, maestro Mani Ratnam’s magic worked. ‘Yuva’ instantly changed Abhishek’s fortune and sent his popularity soaring.

It was the same ‘Angry young man’ act that had famously worked for his father that did the trick again. Instantly and out of the blue, the coronation of the prince-in-waiting seemed imminent. ‘Yuva’’s success put life back in Abhi’s filmi sojourn, which so far was pretty lackluster and added zing to his future performances. And reinvigorated Abhi was red hot and everything he touched was turning into gold.

‘Yuva’ was followed by the success of Yashraj’s ‘Dhoom’ and ‘Bunty Aur Babli’. His rough, broody demeanour was already a hit with most of the female population. He wooed the rest with his inspired, stylized looks in films like ‘Dus’, which had the fairer sex gasping for more. With the success of ‘Bluffmaster’ he proved that he could pull off a film entirely on his shoulders, without even big banners backing him.

Abhishek who was once written off was now going for the top and there was no stopping him. It was probably that forecast of pundits, which went awfully wrong, that ticked them off. When Abhishek was basking in the much-deserved success the rumblings of disgruntled voices began. Around the same time focus suddenly shifted from Abhishek’s profes-sional ascent to his personal life as he had begun dating

Aishwarya Rai, the most desirable woman in the country. Abhishek’s surge to the top, him being with Aishwarya Rai, was too much of a good thing. His detractors just couldn’t digest the fact that all his fingers were dipped in a pie.  Abhishek began receiving inexplicable and unreasonable flak for his personal life. And strangely, his popularity with the women folk dipped, probably because he was already taken.

As if to just round off bad timing, ‘Dhoom II’ happened around the same time. Abhishek faced a highly charged Hrithik Roshan in a tailor-made role, and Duggu just swept away Abhishek despite his own creditable performance. Hrithik mania was back and that was all doomsayers needed to write off Abhishek again. But Abhi took all the unjustified criticism on his chin and went about choosing his work carefully. He was already working on Mani Ratnam’s ‘Guru’ then, and the bliss in his personal life was keeping him in good stead.

But it was then, according to friends, that Abhishek had become wary about the fickle nature of the media and the audience. He also was on guard about his space, trusting only a few close friends with advice and feedback. And he had decided to choose his projects with utmost care, not relying on the reputation of the filmmaker.

 ‘Guru’’s success was marked by Abhishek’s career best performance and was followed by his engagement to Ash. However, their in-your-face display of affection on various occasions, be it public events or much-followed temple visits, didn’t go down well with the watchers. And the ostentatious but private wedding of the century only added to the bad blood towards the Bachchans.

It was therefore understandable that the totally-in-love couple went into a shell after covering up from the vicious onslaught from the outside. The senior Bachchans were left to do the defending on behalf of the family, a situation uncalled for in the first place.

Abhishek was watching and making his moves very carefully after everything he did was being questioned. He had only signed good friend Goldie Behl’s ‘Drona’ post ‘Guru’, so all those who insinuated  that Abhi-Ash alliance was a stupendous business proposition were left eating their own words. Ash pulled out of Karan Johar produced ‘Raaste’ with Abhishek and neither were there zillion brand endorsements for the couple, as was being anticipated.

Abhi-Ash had wisely kept their professional and personal lives separate. So Abhishek visiting his wife on the sets of ‘Jodha Akbar’ and her visiting him on the sets of ‘Drona’ was the closest they came to being in the same working environment. And while Ash signed up Hollywood ‘Pink Panther-2’ Abhi was being extremely choosy about his projects, rejecting films and makers, left, right and center. After all, he was being extra cautious and didn’t want to repeat his mistakes.

Amongst filmmakers who were queuing outside his doorstep was Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who was making a semi-autobiographical ‘Delhi 6’. ‘Rang De Basanti’ fresh in people’s minds and it attaining an almost cult status, didn’t make things any easier for him when it came to the casting of ‘Delhi 6’. The project was tossed around between Abhishek, who was the original choice for the role, to Hrithik to upstart Ranbir Kapoor, who all rejected the film for various reasons.

Abhishek had rejected the offer because he had certain reservations about the script, which Mehra refused to budge on. But with the film not taking off for long, Mehra saw sense and decided to make some changes in the script so that his pet project could see the light of the day.

It helped that he had worked with Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Aks’ in the past and the Big B convinced Abhi to sign on the dotted line. With Sonam Kapoor cast as the leading lady, ‘Delhi 6’ was set to roll in a picturesque town in Rajasthan.

Though Abhishek had acceded to do the film, he still wasn’t fully convinced about his role and had some reservations. But Rakeysh Mehra who was in a hurry to start his project assured Abhi that whatever questions and suggestions he had would be sorted out on the sets. Thus began a two month long schedule of ‘Delhi 6’ but according to unit hands right from day one the shooting was in troubled waters.

The director and his lead actor had at best a testy relationship and the two conflicted right at the onset. Abhishek was being highly inquisitive and questioned practically every action of his on the sets. Says our source, “He wanted to be sure of the reason why he was doing a certain thing in a particular way and not any other. Abhishek is a spontaneous actor while Rakeysh Mehra had his own set way of functioning. There were lots of creative differences and clashes were bound to happen.”

Since Abhishek was already assured that his issues would be addressed, he expected his director to do so without being agitated about it. While Rakeysh Mehra began to believe that Abhishek was being unnecessarily difficult and challenging his authority on the sets. The issues reached a boiling point when creative differences became an ego clash between the two.

The relationship between Mehra and Abhishek had deteriorated, and they were constantly bickering on the sets.  And one day things just erupted on
the sets. Says our source, “Abhishek was voicing his opinion about a scene that was being canned, which is when Rakeysh Mehra lost his cool and the two got into a heated argument.

After which Abhishek stormed off the sets and refused to come out of the make-up room. Mehra stuck to his guns too and wasn’t going to plead to Abhishek to come back on the sets. Things were at a standstill for a couple of hours till the director called for lunch break.  That was time enough for the news of the cold war on the sets to reach Mumbai and Big B. A trusted lieutenant on the sets had called Senior Bachchan and informed him of the activities on the sets.

Mr. Bachchan who has always been known for his impeccable conduct and professional attitude didn’t want his son to hold up shooting even though he may have been justified in his own right. He rang up both the concerned parties and called truce between them. There’s no word that carries more weight than that spoken in the famous baritone. Both Rakeysh Mehra and Abhishek dropped their egos, shook hands and commenced shooting immediately after the lunch break. A major crisis on the sets was avoided thanks to the timely intervention of Mr. Bachchan. But the film is far away from completion and more fireworks are expected along the way. As they say, ‘Delhi Abhi door hain’.


**COURTESY: STARDUST