Veteran actress Rohini Hattangadi recently revisited an uncomfortable yet memorable moment from the early days of working with Amitabh Bachchan. Cast as his mother in Shahenshah—despite being younger than him in real life—Rohini accidentally made an offhand comment that left her fearing she’d offended the legendary star.
Nervous First Meeting on Set
In a chat on the Friday Talkies YouTube channel, Rohini spoke about her initial nerves around working with Amitabh Bachchan in Shahenshah. Though he’s older than her in real life, she was cast as his mother in the film. On the day of their first meeting, she waited anxiously on set with co-star Supriya Pathak, who had already established a rapport with Amitabh. When he entered the room dressed in his now-iconic Shahenshah costume, he casually joked to Supriya, “Look how they’ve dressed me,” breaking the ice with humour.
A Comment That Sparked Regret
The veteran actress further shared an incident from the sets of Shahenshah where, during a casual exchange, she made an impulsive remark to Amitabh Bachchan referencing one of his older films. As soon as the words left her mouth, she realised it may have been too bold. Bachchan didn’t respond and quietly walked away, leaving her feeling anxious and full of regret. She recalled spending the next few minutes in nervous anticipation, mentally preparing for how she might handle the situation if he decided to respond.
Respect for His Post-Accident Work Ethic
However, Big B never addressed the awkward exchange, and continued working as usual, which Rohini felt reflected his professionalism. She also felt some of his post-accident films like Laawaris, Inquilaab, and Sharaabi didn’t do justice to his talent, but respected that he completed them out of commitment to producers after recovering from his injury on Coolie.
