Mumbai, April 13 (IANS) Not many know it, but actor Abhishek Bachchan has for the second time taken on a role not originally meant for him.
The character of a cop in his upcoming film "Dum Maaro Dum", directed by Rohan Sippy, was first supposed to be played by Telugu star Rana Daggubati.
"When Rohan came to me with this film, he wanted me to play the role of DJ Joki, the role that Rana is playing now," Abhishek, who celebrated his 35th birthday in February, told IANS.
"But when I read the script, I told him that I want to do ACP Vishnu Kamath's role instead, because I felt I would be able to do that role better and Rohan agreed."
"I liked the attitude of this character. I liked the way he tackled situations in life and that's the reason I did it," said Abhishek, who sports a gelled look in the film.
Earlier, when he was offered "Bluffmaster" (2005), in which he co-starred with Riteish Deshmukh, he was to play some other role than the one he eventually did.
"A similar thing happened during 'Bluffmaster'. Originally, I was doing Riteish's part and then we changed and I did the part that I finally did and we got Ritiesh for the part I was supposed to do initially," said Bachchan junior, who has spent over a decade in the industry.
There is another similarity between "Bluffmaster" and "Dum Maaro Dum". Abhishek has lent his voice for a song in "Dum..." - again like "Bluffmaster". The song is called "Thayan thayan".
"The idea to have a song in my voice in the film is something Rohan and I both came up with. There's a scene in the film, which allowed for a song and we both decided why not do another song after 'Bluffmaster'," said Abhishek, who began his career with J.P. Dutta's "Refugee" (2000).
"But the challenge this time was that my character in this film is not the kind who will sing a song. This is a very intense character. In this the challenge was how do we justify this character coming up with a song," he said.
"When Jaideep (Sahani) wrote the lyrics, we realised that we've got it bang on. The attitude was absolutely correct, it reflected and embodied what Assistant Commissioner of Police Kamath stands for. So, we went ahead with it," he added.
So did he have to brush up his singing skills? "I tried to, a little bit, but the credit should entirely go to Pritam (music director); he is the master mind," said the actor.
"Dum Maaro Dum", slated to hit screens April 22 and also starring Bipasha Basu and Prateik Babbar, is Abhishek's third film with Rohan and the actor said he witnessed a marked change in the director while shooting for this film.
"Rohan has changed immensely. As a person, he is still the same but he has changed immensely as a director. The amount of maturity and growth I have seen between 'Bluffmaster' and 'Dum Maaro Dum' is a lot more than I saw between 'Kuch Na Kaho' and 'Bluffmaster'," said the actor.
"Now he is very sure of what he needs to get out of an actor, whereas previously, he would give you a lot more leeway. But this time he was so sure about what he wanted and how to get it out. I think his confidence levels were soaring," said the actor who, apart from "Dum Maaro dum", will also be seen this year in "Players" and "Bol Bachchan".
Abhishek gave his first commercial hit "Dhoom" in 2005, five years after his debut. He shot to fame with four movies that did well commercially - "Bunty Aur Babli", "Sarkar", "Dus" and "Bluffmaster".
In 2007, the actor starred in "Guru", receiving much acclaim for his performance, and the film emerged as his first solo hit. Later, he went on to do films like "Dostana", "Delhi-6" and "Paa" among others.