Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, who has played diverse characters in a number of successful films over the past 21 years, has said that he regrets making his acting debut with Refugee (2000) unprepared.
Also marking the silver screen debut of Kareena Kapoor Khan, Refugee hit the marquee in 2000. It was written and directed by JP Dutta, right after the thunderous success of the multi-starrer Border in 1997.
In a new interview, when asked to talk about making mistakes in his career, Bachchan said, “One of the very few regrets that I have is that when I made my debut with Refugee. I felt I was not prepared to work for the great JP Dutta. You get to work with such an honoured director on your first film, you need to be prepared for that challenge and that honour. I felt I was very underprepared as an actor. I should have been a lot more prepared for JP saab. JP saab is family for me. I love him. I should have been better for him."
He continued, “But that's also something which has been great learning. Had I not, I would have not learnt the things that I learnt in the 20 years after that. If I had been so prepared at that time, I don't think I would have ever learnt anything as an actor. It’s not how you start, but how you end. But your start determines a large part of how you are going to end. Because my start was shaky in that aspect for my preparation perspective, it kind of kicked me to pull up my socks, you gonna do better, you need to do better, you need to do better.”
Abhishek Bachchan is presently busy promoting his next film Bob Biswas, a spin-off of Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani (2012). The film is scheduled to premiere on December 3, 2021, on ZEE5.
Everyone is saying it: Diane Keaton is gone. They will list her Oscars and her famous films. Honestly, the real Diane Keaton? She was a wild mash-up of quirks and charm; totally stubborn, totally magnetic, just all over the map in the best way. Off camera, she basically wrote the handbook on being unapologetically yourself. No filter, no apologies. And honestly? She could make you laugh until you forgot what was bothering you. Very few people could do that. That is something special.
Diane Keaton never followed the rules and that’s why Hollywood will miss her forever Getty Images
Remembering the parts of her that stuck with us
1. Annie Hall — the role that reshaped comedy
Not just a funny film. Annie Hall changed how women in comedies could be messy, smart, and real. Her Oscar felt like validation for everyone who had ever been both awkward and brilliant in the same breath.
2. The nudity clause she would not touch
Even as an unknown in the Broadway cast of Hair, she had a line. They offered extra cash to do the famous nude scene. She turned it down. Principle over pay, right from the start.
3. The Christmas single nobody saw coming
3.At 78, she released a song. First Christmas. Not for a movie. Not a joke. Just a sudden, late-life urge to put a song out into the world.
4. The wardrobe — menswear that became signature
Keaton made ties and waistcoats a kind of armour. She was photographed in hats and wide trousers for decades. Style was not a costume for her; it was character. People still imitate that look, and that is saying something.
5. Comedy with bite — First Wives Club and more
She could be gentle one moment and sharp the next. In The First Wives Club, she carried the ensemble effortlessly, landing jokes while letting you feel the heartbreak beneath. Friends who worked with her spoke about her warmth and how raw she stayed about life.
6. A filmmaker and photographer, not just an actor
She directed, she photographed doors and empty shops, she wrote. She loved the weird corners of life. That curiosity kept her working and kept her interesting.
7. Motherhood, chosen late and chosen fiercely
She adopted Dexter and Duke and spoke about motherhood being humbling. She was not pressured by conventional timelines. She made her own map.
8. The last practical act
Months before she died, she listed her Los Angeles home. A quiet, practical move. No drama. It feels now like a final piece of business, a woman tidying her own affairs with clear-eyed calm.
9. The sudden end — close circle, private last months
Friends say her health declined suddenly and privately in recent months. She kept a small circle towards the end and was funny right up until the end, a friend told reporters.
10. Tributes that say it plain — “trail of fairy dust”
Stars poured out words: Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Ben Stiller, Jane Fonda, all struck by how singular she was. They kept mentioning the same thing: original, kind, funny, utterly herself.
Diane Keaton’s legacy in film comedy and fashion left a mark no one else could touchGetty Images
So, that is the list.
We will watch her films again, of course. We will notice the hats, laugh at the delivery, and be surprised by the sudden stab of feeling in a small, silent scene. But more than that, there is a tiny, stubborn thing she did: she made permission. Permission to be odd, to age, to keep making mistakes and still stand centre screen. That is the part of her that outlives the headlines. That is the stuff that does not fade when the credits roll.
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