Mumbai: Most actors these days are also full-time producers. They have productions houses (see box) and produce films regularly for their banners. Some of these films feature the actors, in some they’re simply the producer.
Abhishek Bachchan is a reluctant producer. He’s produced Paa (2009) and Shamitabh (2015). That’s a big gap between two films. And that’s not about to change anytime soon.
Does he see himself growing as a producer in the coming years? He confesses he has ideas for the films he will act in, but says he’s clueless about what he will produce in the next couple of years. “As a production house, there is no place for ‘three years down the line’. I don’t see myself as a regular production house. I don’t want to become a studio. I want to make the kind of films that can inspire me at any point of time to produce.”
He further adds, “I don’t like production. I hate being a producer. Very honestly. I enjoy the pre-production part of it, but once the film goes on the floors, I absolutely hate it. Predominantly because when I did Paa, I was very conflicted between being the producer and the actor. The actor in me wanted to do one more take, but the producer in me kept saying ‘Okay, we are running out of time’. I didn’t like that. I like the idea of setting up a budget, putting the project together.. I enjoy that process.”
AB Jr has no plans to produce a film right now, but never say never. As he says, “If I feel creatively inspired to make a film, I will produce it.”
