The fuss about Bachchan's beard 16th Feb 2007
16.03 IST
By ApunKaChoice
It is no secret that Amitabh Bachchan has always hated wearing artificial beards in films.
When Big B began preparing for his role in Vidhu Vinod Chopra ’s movie Eklavya , the filmmaker asked him to grow a real beard. But since Amitabh had other Bollywood assignments also on his hands, he opted for the artificial beard.
Then what! The superstar sat through numerous sessions in which several kinds of beards were tried. But Chopra is a stickler for perfection. Sometimes he would find the beard too long, sometimes he wouldn’t be satisfied with the hair colour. After nearly two months of trial sessions the filmmaker gave his nod to the beard which Big B wears in ‘Eklavya’.
But that was not the end of Bachchan’s troubles. The superstar was “very uncomfortable” while filming his scenes because the gum used to stick the beard was restricting his facial expressions.
“Once you stick on the beard with gum it just restricts your facial movements and irritates you. And you lose your facial movement,” Amitabh is quoted as saying.
However, Big B braved all the discomfort and, in Chopra’s words, played his part to perfection.
In return, Mr. Bachchan extracted a promise from Chopra that if he makes Big B wear the beard in his next movie also, then Chopra too would have to wear one.