Rumy Jafry’s Chehre, which will hit the cinema screens tomorrow, stars Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi in the lead roles. And yet, Bachchan’s name in the film’s credit titles is followed by the words ‘Friendly Appearance’. For those in the industry, it does not need to be explained that an actor makes a friendly or a guest appearance in a film if he has a small or very small role in it. But Amitabh is one of the two central characters in Chehre, the other, obviously, being Emraan. What then could be the reason for Bachchan being shown in the opening titles as being cast in a friendly appearance?
The film’s producer, Anand Pandit, explained, “Bachchan saab did not charge a single naya paisa for acting in the film!” As if that were not enough, Pandit continued, “For our shooting schedule in Slovakia (Poland), I had chartered a flight for Bachchan saab but he declined my hospitality and arrived in a plane chartered by him and paid for by him.” These are the reasons why Anand Pandit gave Bachchan the credit of a friendly appearance. “He’s such a selfless friend,” added Pandit.
It may be mentioned here that it had been Pandit’s dream to make a film with Amitabh Bachchan. The actor knew about this and so when he was approached with the script of Chehre, he asked Anand Pandit to produce the film. Bachchan’s company, Saraswati Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., is a joint producer with Pandit. “Bachchan saab told me that this is the kind of film he would love to be a part of as he was keen on leaving the wonderful message which the film gives, as his gift for posterity.”