MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, who was recently seen in a cameo role in Hollywood film The Great Gatsby, says that the story of the film is similar to the stories we get to see in India. In an interview to Time magazine, Bachchan said that the film’s director Baz Luhrmann insisted him to play the role despite the fact that it wasn’t “worth his while.”
“The story is quite close to the stories which we make in India. There is a poor man who is in love with a girl. He goes to war thinking that he will not come back. She gets married to a rich billionaire. And Gatsby’s belief in life is to create enough wealth to bring back to her,” Bachchan said.
The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire.
Bachchan plays the role of Meyer Wolfsheim, who is Jewish. He said that it’s probably the first time an Indian has played a non-Indian in an American film.
“Baz felt that Wolfsheim suited my appearance. But I feel that we must look above all this when we watch a film. It does not matter if an Indian plays a Jewish character,” he said.
Talking about the style of film-making in both the industries, he said that the amount of research done in Hollywood is massive.
“The West is obsessed with research. It is wonderful. I don’t think we [Bollywood] spend enough energy doing that,” he said.
He also added that the West excels in promoting their films. “Hollywood is brilliant at how they promote themselves. We can’t compare ourselves to them,” the actor said and added, “We have a paucity of funds.”
“Hollywood has a lot of money. But I think we are getting there. A great amount of the younger generation is trained in America and they bring back with them a lot of knowledge of how management needs to be incorporated,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 3rd, 2013.
Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.