The best thing about interviewing Amitabh Bachchan is that he is always on time for the meeting and never bores you to death with elaborate ‘good-for-nothing’ quotes. Busy with the promotions of Shamitabh, we met Bollywood’s towering legend at short notice yesterday at a suburban five-star. And as usual, the man spoke with great sagacity on topics ranging from films, onscreen rivalry and politics. Excerpts from the interview. How do you end up sporting a different look in every film of yours these days? I am a director’s actor and work according to his directions. The way my roles are structured, I work accordingly. Balki always comes up with different stories, different characters and thought processes. I have been lucky and also thankful that the roles that ultimately I get are different and it feels good and I see it as a challenge to portray them. SRK was Balki’s first choice to play Dhanush’s character until things didn’t work out between them. Has the ‘Sh’ of Shamitabh been derived from Shah Rukh? Well, Balki was in talks with SRK to work in the film. But it didn’t happen. And how the name has been derived, you will get to know once you watch the film. Why do filmmakers and actors shy away from revealing the story of the movie unlike earlier days? Why are films marketed in this manner today? There are two things here. One thing is you tell the story to people and then they come and watch the film. But there are some people who feel that if that is done, it will take away the novelty factor. These are the people who feel the other way. They think, ‘Okay hold on to the story. Why declare it right now? May be, we will give a hint or two in the trailer. Make it attractive. Make it expectant for people to hope that they going to see something that will be surprising. These are the two versions. They may be both right and they may be both wrong. Aamir Khan says marketing is the creation of the desire to consume. Do you agree with him? I am not as intelligent as Aamir Khan. I am barely managing to be in front of the camera. There are many people who know marketing well and surely Aamir knows much more than I do. Did you suggest Dhanush’s name after the deal between SRK and Balki didn’t work out? Yes I suggested Dhanush’s name. I have always admired him as an actor. I have seen his south films and I have seen Raanjhanaa too. He is a very accomplished artist and he is huge star. Now that I have seen the final product of our film and having worked with him, I feel he was a wonderful choice. You are teetotaler. How difficult was it to play an alcoholic in the movie? In every film that we do, we are not that person in real life. I don’t have the power to hit 10 to 12 people in real life. Where do I romance different heroines in real life? But those are the larger-than-life persona that you portray onscreen unlike alcoholism which is a real thing… (Cuts in) Even alcoholism is larger than life because I am not an alcoholic in real life. The acting comes with variation or some idea of what an alcoholic will behave like and if it is in agreement with what the director wants we go ahead with it. Your singing has been receiving a lot of praise? I am never comfortable singing and I can’t sing. I am not melodious. It is the technology that makes me sound good. I am not a singer and I am petrified when it comes to singing. Why do you sing then? Sometimes situations happen and circumstances occur that we have to do it. So looking at the situation, looking at that circumstance, I have gone ahead and done it. Have you decided to work in every film of Balki’s now? That is a personal decision and it is a decision that we mutually sit and agree upon. There are many ideas and thoughts that come to our mind and yes, I think this a practice that most artistes and directors go through. A director says, ‘I have an idea and I want you to play this.’ Now will the artist accept it, does he like it, does he not like that is an individual decision that every artist takes. How is the film going to be, will I be able to do it, what are prospect of such a film, these are individual personal decisions that every artist takes. It’s rare to see a movie being named after the real name of an actor acting in it. Would you ever like a biopic to be made on your life? It would be a disaster. Why do you think so? Because there is nothing to say in that story. It would be terrible. Bahut gadbad ho jaayegi. Why don’t A-list superstars of the current generation act alongside each other unlike the 70s and 80s? Who are these superstars? Pray tell me… The three Khans, you of course, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Ranbir… These are all personal decisions that everyone takes. Yes, most of my films have been multi-starcast films. Almost every film of mine apart from Zanjeer, Deewar, Trishul, Muqaddar ka Sikandar, Lawaaris..(Phew) the list is endless. And I had a great time working with all my co-stars. Why don’t we see that happening with the superstars of the current generation? You will have to ask them. Was there ever any rivalry with your contemporaries? Healthy rivalry is always good but we didn’t want to damage each other. But you are the only one actor from that generation who is still prolific in films? God is kind and hence I am getting work and it is not that the others are not working. Vinod (Khanna), Shatrughan (Sinha), Dharamj i(Dharmendra), Jeetendra every one is working, Vinod and Shatrughan especially. If you see their lives, they started off as villains and then went on to become big. After that they went into politics and became successful there as well. So this is not an easy task. I have just been stuck in one place (acting). The other place I went to I got defeated and returned. Any chances of going there again? The only place I will be going from here is up (points to the heaven and smiles). But will we see you entering politics again? I don’t have any idea about politics. Do you watch Bigg Boss? I don’t have the time to watch Bigg Boss. I work late when I am shooting and later on I have my personal work to take care of. Talking about time, if there is one trait the media admires about it is your habit of being punctual to a fault. How have you been able to maintain it consistently over the years? (Smiles) You have to look at it as an exercise. I don’t know how to name this thing. I just say if someone has given you a time then it has to be maintained. If you are in a profession and you call yourself a professional, then you adhere to the time given to you.