To portray the relationship between the Big B Amitabh Bachchan and Ajay Devgn in Satyagraha director Prakash Jha has delved into his own very personal relationship with his father.
Many of the scenes between the two actors are taken from Prakash’s own interaction with his father.
Says the director, “Normally I shy away from displaying too much emotion in my cinema.Satyagraha is my most personal and most emotional film to date. I’ve taken many incidents from my own life.”
Prakash shares a very close relationship with his father.While Satyagraha was being written Prakash often thought of his own relationship with his father.
“Ideological and practical differences are a part of every parent-child relationship. Bachchan Saab and Ajay do not play biological father-son in Satyagraha. But they share a very deep bonding,” says Jha.
So deep was the bonding between Big B and Devgn during the shooting of Satyagraha that the two would often be seen exchanging thoughts even when not shooting.The fact that Devgn is a family friend of the Bachchans helped them to acquire a greater comfort level on screen.
The two have earlier worked together in the Bachchans’ home-production Major Sahib and the Big B also starred in Ajay’s home production Hindustan Ki Kasam.
Says a source from the core crew of Satyagraha, “We’ve worked with Bachchan Saab before.We’ve seen him bond with Deepika Padukone who played his daughter in Aarakshan. We even thought she looked like Bachchan Saab’s daughter. But nothing can compare with what Bachchan Saab shared with Ajay Devgn during the shooting of Satyagraha. They are not father and son in the film. They play mentor and pupil.And Prakashji used a lot of his own experiences with his father to define Devgan’s relationship with Mr Bachchan.”
- By Subhash K Jha