Amitabh shares fond memories with Agastya, his passion for acting

NEW DELHI: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who was excited to host his grandson Agastya Nanda on the hot seat of the show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 15’, recalled holding him in his arms soon after his birth and shared how his grandson had a passion for acting.

The quiz-based reality show saw the presence of the star cast of the recently released teen musical drama ‘The Archies’. Agastya, Suhana Khan, Khushi Kapoor, Vedang Raina, Mihir Ahuja, Dot, Yuvraj Menda came to the show along with their director Zoya Akhtar.

Agastya, Mihir and Yuvraj sat on the hot seat in the first lot.

Agastya, who is the son of Shweta Bachchan, said: “It feels as though we have two exams today. One with you and the other is KBC!”

Yuvraj then said to Amitabh: “The team of The Archies has prepared something for you and we want Agastya to read it out to you.”

Agastya then read a candid poem for his ‘nanu’ which said that the latter should ask them easy questions, and sign the cheque of Rs 7 crore fast.

Replying to him, Big B also narrated a rap and declined their request candidly, leaving everyone in splits.

The ‘Don’ actor then asked his grandson to describe his first day on the set of ‘The Archies’.

Agastya, who has made his acting debut with the film, said: “Firstly, such opportunities come by rarely. And when they do, it becomes our responsibility to give our best. I enjoyed myself. We were shooting together. We released a song called 'Sunoh'. We were performing that, and I think I had a blast. I just enjoyed it.”

Yuvraj added on to Agastya and said: “I also want to ask something to you sir. How did you feel when you got to know that Agastya was going to play Archies's character in this film?”

The ‘Sarkar’ actor shared: “I guess a lot of people don't know that he's the son of my daughter. This is a very difficult question. Five minutes after his birth, I held him. Then he grew up a little and I could carry him in my arms. And he had a habit of scratching my beard with one finger.”

“Then he grew up a little more. He became an actor one day. When he said he wanted to be an actor and work in films, I never stopped him. I never asked my kids what they wanted to do.They were free to do as they pleased. He chose his own path. No one in the family told him he had to do acting. He comes from a family of businessmen. I thought he would do business but he wanted to do acting,” said the ‘Brahmastra’ actor.

Amitabh used to observe Agastya closely.

“We went to the gym together once. The TV was switched on and you can browse the channels. There were two channels that played film songs. He'd never tune into the news or any sports events. Agastya Nanda watched the TV intently. ‘Look how Ranbir Kapoor is dancing. Which step will Ranveer Singh do next? Oh! That's Anushka Sharma and...’ He used to only observe what actors were doing,” said Amitabh.

“At that moment, l knew that he had started rehearsing.When I watch the film, I will know if what he watched on TV worked for him or not,” he concluded.