Producer, director Vidhu Vinod Chopra known for movies like ‘Parinda’, ‘1942 A Love Story’ and in recent times, ’12th Fail’, had also made ‘Eklavya: The Roya; Guard’. However, this film did not do well at the box office. It starred Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani. In an interview earlier, Chopra had recalled a fun anecdote about the film and why he gifted Big B a luxury car worth Rs 4.5 crore.
Jaya Bachchan told Amitabh Bachchan, he won’t be able to tolerate Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Chopra is usually considered to be a difficult person to work with and he himself had joked about it. He said that when they began shooting the film, Amitabh Bachchan came for the outdoor shoot with very little baggage. The film-maker said during a chat with Siddharth Kannan that when he asked Bachchan why he was travelling so light, the actor responded, “Jaya told me that I wouldn’t be able to stand you for more than a week.” Her prediction did come true. Chopra added, “We actually started fighting after a week or 10 days. But he stayed on, and completed the film. I gifted him a car worth Rs 4.5 crore because he tolerated me. It was really humbling for a star of his stature to have to tolerate me, it was big of him.”
Gifting Bachchan a car
In an interview with The Lallantop, Chopra had revealed why he gifted a car to Amitabh Bachchan. He laughed, “I will never forget this incident. I took my mother with me when I was gifting the car to Amitabh. She handed him the keys. She came back, sat in my car, which was a blue Maruti van. She called Big B ‘Lamboo.’ I didn’t have a driver at the time, so I was driving. She told me, ‘Tu Lamboo nu gaadi dedi?‘ I said, ‘Haan.’ She replied, ‘Tu khud kyun nahi leta gaadi? I told her I would buy a car; when it was time. She responded, saying, ’11 lakh ki toh hogi.’ And I laughed because she didn’t know that it was Rs 4.5 crore. I told her the cost, and she slapped me, calling me ‘bewakoof.’ I will never forget that, because what is money if it can’t give you joy.” Despite the fact that ‘Eklavya: The Royal Guard’ failed at the box office, the film was India’s official entry to the Oscars.
