Why Big B agreed to do a Malayalam film

Amitabh Bachchan is off to Ooty to shoot for his Malayalam project and says he gave his nod for the film only because of his admiration for southern superstar Mohanlal.

"My admiration for Mohanlal could never have made me refuse this offer and so I do it for him," Amitabh posted on his blog www.bigb.bigadda.com.

"Mohanlal has been and still is one of the most incredible talents from Kerala and the Malayalam film industry. I have admired him and his work through many years of my existence in this profession. He has a unique body and face language. You get the feeling that he is doing nothing, yet it results in the most amazing results - natural, without effort and effective. Just such a joy to watch him," he wrote.

The offer for the yet-to-be-titled project came to Amitabh when he went to Kerala to attend the celebration of sound technician Resul Pookutty's Oscar victory last year.

"It was there that Mohanlal, a guest at the occasion, had come up to my room with his director Major Ravi to put up this idea and this proposal. A few weeks later, they all came to meet up with me in Mumbai to set up all the details for the shoot," he posted.

The 67-year-old is working for free in the movie.

"(They) put up the inevitable question that most producers do of remuneration! I had laughed at them. What? Charge you for working for three days in a Mohanlal film? An actor I admire? You must be joking! No way, no fees, no nothing. Just tell me when I have to report and where. That is all."

There won't be any language barrier for Amitabh as he is playing a north Indian character.

"The film will be in Malayalam, but my character is north Indian so I shall be speaking in Hindi, with the odd sentence in Malayalam. Now that shall be tough, but effort shall be made, let's see what happens," he wrote.

Indo-Asian News Service