Abhishek Bachchan, son of Bollywood legends Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan, recently revealed a surprising detail about his early career. As he celebrates 25 years in the film industry, the actor shared that his first-ever screen test for his debut film, "Refugee," was not with his eventual co-star, Kareena Kapoor, but with Bipasha Basu.
"Refugee," a 2000 romantic drama directed by J.P. Dutta, marked the entry of both Abhishek and Kareena into the Hindi film industry. The film tells the story of an unnamed Indian Muslim (played by Abhishek), who helps refugees from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh cross the border through the Great Rann of Kutch. Kareena played Nazneen, a girl who is among those crossing the border. The film also starred Jackie Shroff, Sunil Shetty, and Anupam Kher in supporting roles.
In an exclusive conversation with India Today, Abhishek spoke about his fear of auditions and how they still unnerve him. He stated, "I am petrified of an audition because I'm terrible at it. As an actor, we do a lot of screen tests. We did screen tests for 'Refugee' as well. In fact, my first ever screen test was with Bipasha. She was a model then. We both screen tested for 'Refugee'."
Interestingly, Bipasha Basu was initially considered for a role in "Refugee." Jaya Bachchan had convinced her to play a village belle opposite Abhishek in J.P. Dutta's shelved project, "Aakhri Mughal." When that film didn't materialize, Dutta reworked the script and made "Refugee" with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was later offered a role opposite Sunil Shetty in "Refugee" but declined it.
While Kareena Kapoor eventually landed the female lead in "Refugee", Basu and Abhishek remained friends, later co-starring in films such as "Dum Maro Dum." Abhishek, in a social media post, mentioned that Bipasha was the first actor he ever faced on camera with, back in 1998 at Kamaalistan Studios, when they screen-tested together for J.P. Saab (Dutta).
"Refugee" wasn't just a debut for Abhishek and Kareena, it also presented challenges during its making. J.P. Dutta revealed that the film was shot in Kutch without a pre-written script, with the story and dialogues developing as they filmed. He said that Abhishek and Kareena's characters "wrote their own destinies in the film" and he was simply a bystander. The shooting conditions were gruelling, with limited amenities, but both debutants showed great passion and dedication.
Despite the film being just an average hit at the box office, both Abhishek and Kareena received positive reviews for their performances. Film critic Taran Adarsh noted that Abhishek "has all it takes to emerge a competent actor in years to come" and that he lived up to his family name. The film also won two National Film Awards, one for Best Music Direction (Anu Malik) and another for Best Lyrics (Javed Akhtar).
"Refugee" was initially much longer, with a runtime of 3 hours and 49 minutes. However, after a unanimous negative verdict from previews, Amitabh Bachchan intervened and convinced J.P. Dutta to cut 19 minutes from the film.
Despite initial struggles after "Refugee," Abhishek found success with films like "Dhoom" (2004) and received critical acclaim for his roles in "Yuva" (2004), "Sarkar" (2005), and "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" (2006), winning three consecutive Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Actor. He has since starred in numerous commercially successful and critically acclaimed films, solidifying his place in Bollywood.
