Farhan Akhtar addresses the long-standing claim that he once “tried to teach” Big B acting. Read what he said.
Updated: November 12, 2025 11:04 AM IST
In the glitzy and glamorous world of Bollywood, we see many on-screen collaborations that create magic on screen. However, there are some behind-the-scenes aspects of a film that never make it to the spotlight but hold a story, sometimes more filmy than the film. One such example of this is behind the scenes from the 2004 film Lakshya. The film featured Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta, and Om Puri. The film was directed by celebrated filmmaker Farhan Akhtar. Recently, in a candid chat on Aap Ki Adalat, Farhan opened up about his experience of working with Bachchan and addressed the long-standing claim that he once “tried to teach” Big B acting.
Farhan Akhtar on hurting Amitabh Bachchan during Lakshya
Addressing the incident, Farhan Akhtar admitted that the incident might have unintentionally hurt Amitabh Bachchan. Recalling the tense moment, he said, “So it was his first day, and he was taking time to get it done in terms of performance. And from my end, I was only thinking there is so much pressure upon me, so if I just go and talk to him in a room about if he is facing any difficulty or I can help in understanding, so that from there onwards, we are efficient on set.”
He added, “It is very much possible that this enthusiasm of mine might not have gone well with him, that a young director is telling him if there is any problem, let’s talk about it. It could possibly have hurt him. So I understood later that he might have felt bad, and I did apologise to him for that. My intention wasn’t that; it was simply that whatever we were doing, if we could just speed it up.”
Further explaining what happened, Farhan said, “No, no. This isn’t what I intended. I very vividly remember what happened. It was his first day of shooting for the film, and we were shooting in the Army Cantonment. Everything there is so driven by time and so much punctuality that you don’t have any liberty to exceed the time. The authorities had very clearly instructed us that you will come to the cantonment at this time, and by this hour you have to pack up and leave.”
He also said that he was under immense pressure as a young filmmaker: “So I was very stressed and wanted everything to be done immediately so that there isn’t any delay or lag, and we don’t have to take permission all over again.”
Farhan Akhtar on Amitabh Bachchan’s professionalism
Despite the misunderstanding, Farhan spoke highly of Bachchan’s professionalism: “It was very easy to work with him; he is a thorough professional,” he said, recalling an early morning shoot where “Bachchan arrived even before the crew to get into the character and the rhythm of the scene.”
