Ram Gopal Varma’s radically transformed aesthetics in Nishabd stunned everyone, none more so than the film’s leading man Amitabh Bachchan who played a 60-year old, who falls in love with a 18-year old girl.

Talking about his character in the film, Mr Bachchan says, “This wasn’t the Ram Gopal Varma of Sarkar. It was hard to believe he came up with something so sensitive. So far he had made gangster films like Sarkar and Satya. I agreed to do Nishabd in five minutes. At this stage of my life I think it’s my duty as an actor to do as many kinds of roles as possible.”

He goes on, “When one is younger , the lead role comes with commercial constraints. When that weight has gone from one’s head, one feels freer. I’m freed from the pressures of commercialism. Nishabd is a total departure from whatever I’ve done. The audience has now matured. Of course there’s a big audience for the popcorn movie like Dhoom 2. But there’s a growing audience wanting to think and introspect during a film. That’s how a Nishabd was born.”

The veteran superstar admits the plot in Nishabd presented a difficult situation. “I’m just happy with the way Ramu presented it. It’s all up to the director. Ramu has always given me the freedom to express myself openly, to interpret his brief in any way I want. Sometimes the shot is over. But he doesn’t stop the camera. And you just have to carry on acting. Ramu has always given me that extra space. Invariably there’s a lot of give-and-take on his sets. He always surprises me with the way he puts together my expressions on the editing table.”

When I point out that Jiah Khan was his youngest co-star Bachchan Saab corrects me. “Not quite. Ayesha Kapoor in Black was my youngest co-star. Jiah was very good. It was hard to tell this was her first film. She was a wonderful artiste and a colleague.”