R Balki Recalls Amitabh Bachchan's Cold Expression During Cheeni Kum Script Narration

Amitabh Bachchan and director R Balki collaborated on various ads before joining the hands of Cheeni Kum, marking Balki's directorial debut. Speaking of which, the director during the recent Ajanta Ellora International Film Festival, recalled pitching the film to the superstar and ended up "embarrassing" himself.

He never enjoyed one joke in the script: R Balki

Speaking at the film festival, the director opened up about his embarrassing moment while narrating a script to Amitabh Bachchan. Encouraged by Big B to share a one-line idea for Cheeni Kum, Balki completed the script and narrated it to the actor. However, throughout the session, Bachchan had a "poker face" and "cold expression" and didn't enjoy one joke in the script.

Revealing the reason the director said, "I was narrating the film to him, and there was poker-faced silence. As a human being, you expect somebody to laugh at your jokes, and he’s the first person I’m narrating the script to in my life. Stone cold silence. And you don’t look at Amitabh Bachchan when you’re narrating. You keep your eyes on the script, but it starts bothering you that nobody is laughing, there’s no reaction, has he gone to sleep? I looked up, and he had this absolutely cold expression."

"Then I suddenly realised why he’s looking at me like that. I was reading the whole script to him in his voice. I was imitating him. To behave like Bachchan to Bachchan is the biggest embarrassment in the world,” the director concluded.

About Cheeni Kum

Released in 2007, the romantic-comedy drama revolved around the story of an egotistical 64-year-old chef and confirmed bachelor who falls for a woman 30 years his junior. Apart from Amitabh Bachchan, the film also starred Tabu, Paresh Rawal and Swini Khara, in pivotal roles. The film opened to positive reviews from critics upon release, with praise for its direction, story, screenplay, dialogues, soundtrack and performances of the cast. Made on a budget of ₹11 crore, it grossed a total of ₹32.3 crore at the box office, proving to be a commercial success.