Abhishek Bachchan has garnered praise for his performance in his recent release – I Want To Talk. Some fans have even compared his acting and screen presence to that of the late Irrfan Khan. However, Abhishek says he can’t take too much credit for it, calling actors ‘puppets’ in the hands of the director, in this case – Shoojit Sircar. (Also read: Working on ‘I Want To Talk’ a life-changing experience: Abhishek Bachchan)

Abhishek Bachchan says actors are puppets

In an interview with E-Times, Abhishek addressed comparisons with Irrfan for his act in I Want To Talk, saying, “That’s got nothing to do with me. Actors are very well-paid, pampered puppets. Here’s the grand master puppeteer (pointing at Shoojit).”

Abhishek added that actors need to trust directors and surrender. “After you’ve made that decision of trusting the director, if you still think, ‘main toh star hoon, yeh nahi karunga’ (I am a star, I won’t do this) then I’m not allowing him to do what he wants to do. I’ll give you an example of Forest Gump. One of the biggest films of all times. He’s not heroic, but his character is heroic. So, every actor has to take the leap of faith,” he said, adding that he also understands why actors don’t submit sometimes, “Sometimes, I understand why actors don’t do so, because you’ve burnt your fingers but choose to work with people who you can trust.”

About I Want To Talk

Directed by Shoojit Sircar, I Want To Talk stars Abhishek as a terminally ill man coming to terms with life and death. The film also stars Ahilya Bamroo, Johnny Lever, Banita Sandhu, and Pearle Maaney, among others. Critics have praised the film, particularly for Abhishek’s performance. The Hindustan Times review states: “Abhishek fully utilises his real-life demeanour as a chill guy with some of the best one-liners in the room for his character.”

However, the praise has not translated to box office collections. The film opened to a lowly ₹25 lakh on its first day, one of the lowest opening-day hauls in Abhishek’s career.