‘Sairat’ Director Nagraj Manjule Opens Up About Working With Amitabh Bachchan

Director Nagraj Manjule, who shot to fame overnight with the blockbuster Sairat, will make his Bollywood debut with a film starring none other than Amitabh Bachchan and the filmmaker took to his Facebook page to gush about what this means for him.

Taking to Facebook, Manjule wrote (the original post is in Hindi, but we have the translation for our readers), “When I saw Amitabh’s film Deewar as a child, I used to go to school with my shirt knotted at the base – just like Amitabh’s character in film. My teacher beat me for doing so but that knot remains intact throughout that time.We used to kidnap donkeys working on local construction sites to perform the robbery scene from Sholay. The friend who owns these donkeys always played Amitabh’s role in our act. Being part of that act was an achievement for me. I had no objection to playing Sambha too, but never missed a chance to direct the action. I had irritated people by asking them to say ‘Kachcha Papad Pakka Papad‘ after watching Yaraana. Don, Coolie, Satte Pe Satta, Laawaris, Kaalia, Sharabi… God knows how many films’ stories I used to narrate to my friends just to entertain them. My favourite actor since childhood. I grew up watching his films, the one and only Mahanayak of the Century is the hero of my next film. For me there is no bigger happiness than this.”

Reportedly, the Big will play a patriarch with grey shades in Manjule’s upcoming film.