Abhishek Bachchan on the enduring power of the big screen

Mumbai, March 31 (IANS) Abhishek Bachchan is an actor with an impeccable sense of humour and wit.

While he may be known for serious or intense roles, the actor is set to bring in a new flavour with his soon to be released social comedy ‘Dasvi’, which also stars Yami Gautam and Nimrat Kaur.

In a recent conversation with IANS, Abhishek spoke about collaborating with a first-time director for the film, the changing space of content industry courtesy OTT and his liking towards the genre of comedy.

For him, the script of ‘Dasvi’ is what did the trick, something that he would love to watch on screen as a part of the audience, “I think it’s predominantly the script and the story was very unique. It was so new and fresh and it was all about how you were saying that and it is a film which I really wanted to watch. That is the reason I signed up for it.”

The film has been helmed by debutant director Tushar Jalota. The actor opines that it’s always great to work with first-time directors as they bring a whole different energy to the table.

Abhishek says, “They have a very unique voice and a very unique outlook on life. I feel they don’t come with any preconceived notions and that’s exciting because it gives you a fresh perspective.”

Ask him how would he define his character in the film or if there’s someone in the history of cinema that he has modelled this character on and pat comes the reply, “I don’t think there is anybody like him. I like to think he is very unique. He was a very fun character to play, I had the most fun in front of the camera.”

The actor loves working in the genre of comedy as it challenges him as an artiste, “I absolutely enjoyed doing comedy. I even feel it is one of the most difficult genres to play. Also, I have come off some very, very intense work and was looking to do a bit of a light-hearted film and I am so glad that this film happened.”

‘Dasvi’ is coming out simultaneously on two streaming platforms, Netflix and Jio Cinema on April 7. With the content industry migrating towards OTT majorly, what future does it hold for the medium of cinema in his opinion. Abhishek feels that cinemas and OTT will co-exist.

He says, “The same debate about cinemas getting finished occurred when VHS came along in the early 1980s. It happened to an extent that I remember the films were released on VHS on the same date they were released in the movies to avoid piracy.”

“Then came television and the debate was once again renewed. But, the theatres are still operating and have undergone major evolution with regards to multiplexes. The same thing is happening with OTT as well.”

“However this is a different medium of experience where different stories are to be told. I think the convenience of OTT platforms mixed with the quality of content that’s available over it makes it very lucrative to the audience. OTT and cinema would rather compliment each other,” he concluded. – IANS