"Dekh Bhai Dekh" Man ia the Director for "Dostana"

Abhishek Bachchan's out with his next movie this week and he says he's following his father, but is aware that there is a world of difference between them.

"I don't compare myself to my father. I just try to follow in his footsteps," he said, "Calling his a hard act (to follow) is very cynical. I look at his track record as a son as very inspiring."



Abhishek's own track record has not been particularly inspiring and he hopes that changes with his new movie Dostana, made by Karan Johar and also starring John Abraham.

Abhishek says he had difficulty with his father's illness. "I think any parent's illness is extremely disturbing to any child. I'm not an exception. We hope our parents will never fall ill. But they do. I love my father immensely. I dealt with his illness as best as I could. And I hope I'm half as good a son as he was to his parents."

Abhishek himself fell ill last week while shooting for Mani Ratnam's film but says he's recovered."I was shooting in the rain and I got a viral fever," he said, brushing it off, "Now I'm back on my feet working hard."

The shoot in Kerala has put Abhishek out of contact with the outside world. "I do feel a bit disconnected because I'm shooting in the jungles, two hours' drive from Kochi where there's no network. It's very tough to connect with the world." But that he says is not entirely a bad thing. "(It's) a blessing because there're no distractions and one can get completely into the world of the film. Once we wrap up, all of us head for the gym and then sit on the scenes for the next day. On the deficit side, I don't get to connect with my loved ones. God forbid, if there's another medical emergency."

In Dostana, Abhishek and John Abraham pretend to be gay in order to find a house in Florida. And Abhishek says he enjoyed doing the role because it was comic, the first time he's done an out-and-out comedy. The movie is being directed by Tarun Mansukhani.

"I've known Tarun for more than 15 years. In fact, he started his career in my mother's company for a TV series called "Dekh Bhai Dekh". I heard the concept of "Dostana" even before I did Karan's "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" (KANK). Tarun told me about "Dostana" during KANK and I was on board."