Abhishek Bachchan Reflects on Early Struggles in Bollywood: From Rejections to Breakthroughs

In a recent Hindi Actors Roundtable on Galatta Plus, Abhishek Bachchan candidly shared the challenges he faced in kickstarting his Bollywood career in the early 2000s. Despite initial buzz and anticipation surrounding his debut, the actor revealed that filmmakers were hesitant to cast him, despite media speculation about his entry into the industry as Amitabh Bachchan’s son.

The actor recalled, “There was a lot of chatter, excitement about me joining (the film industry). Not because of me, but because of the kid I was. But contrary to that, people were not interested in working with me. I think I met all the directors I could have met, and they all very respectfully declined saying, ‘We don’t want the responsibility of watching you.'”

Abhishek went on to recount the turning point in his career, detailing how he secured his debut role. Collaborating with friend and ad filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra on a period film initially titled “Samjhauta Express,” Abhishek faced rejection when he presented the script to his father, Amitabh Bachchan, for production under ABCL banner, as the veteran actor dismissed it as “bakwas.”

In an effort to boost his son’s morale, Amitabh took Abhishek to the Filmfare Awards, where filmmaker JP Dutta noticed him. A few days later, Dutta approached Abhishek for a project centered on a Mughal descendant, the son of Bahadur Shah Zafar. While that particular film did not materialize, it marked the beginning of Abhishek’s Bollywood journey, as JP Dutta eventually cast him in the 2000 cross-border romance “Refugee,” alongside fellow newcomer Kareena Kapoor.