DID YOU KNOW? ABHISHEK HAD 15 FLOPS BEFORE HE FINALLY GOT A HIT

AND THE ACTOR WAS SO DISGUSTED BY HIS DISCOURAGING CAREER THAT HE WANTED TO BID GOOD-BYE TO FILMS, UNTIL...

After a string of flop movies early in his career, actor Abhishek Bachchan thought he had joined the wrong profession. But, a dressing down from his father Amitabh made him decide to stick it out in Bollywood.

"Yes, I went to my dad and told him I think I made a mistake," he said. "He fired me. He said I didn't bring you up to quit. I have faith in you. He said just go back and keep working," Abhishek told NDTV.

"Dad asked me to spend time in front of the camera and learn to improve as long as I get an opportunity," said Abhishek, who was once considered a pale shadow of his father.

Asked what crossed his mind after his 15th flop, Abhishek said, "It becomes a habit. It's very weird."

Queried whether it is difficult to handle failure now that he had had quite a few hits, he said it is comparatively easier to handle failure in the early days of one's career.

"Initially when you start you still live in hope. You know your first film does not do well, it hurts -- second, third...it hurts but still you believe in yourself," he said.

The actor said he was enjoying his married life with Aishwarya Rai. "The best part is that you get to live with your best friend. Somebody you enjoy spending time with, which I think is the reasonable criteria to get married. It's wonderful. I am enjoying myself," he said.

When asked whether the film industry's most eligible bachelor is now its most besotted husband, Abhishek said every husband should be besotted. "I do not know if it is correct to call me the most eligible bachelor. I never believed that. I know many people were considered far more eligible then me. As far as besotted is concerned, every husband should be besotted," he said.

"I think it is important for every husband to care for his wife and family and they should not marry if they do not. You should get married if you are prepared to live with somebody for life," he said matter-of-factly.

Asked whether the Bachchan family discusses films at the dining table, Abhishek said talk about movies was totally banned at the table. "Ma does not allow film talk at the table. After my sister got married, there were only three of us, and I was just starting my career and then a little bit of that would slip in," he said.

"You just get a typical glare that a mother gives a child when you do something wrong," he explained.

BIG B TO LEND HIS VOICE TO HIS LATER FATHER HARVANSH RAI BACHCHAN'S POEMS

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan is set to recite his father Harivansh Rai Bachchan's poems at a literary and cultural festival in New York next month.

The event called "Bachchan Sandhya" will be held on Aug 18 at the Lincoln Center - a premier venue for the performing arts.

The cultural do has been organised by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, US, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of India's independence and the centenary of late Harivansh Rai Bachchan, a celebrated Hindi poet and litterateur.

On the occasion, Amitabh's wife and actress Jaya Bachchan will offer her own reminiscences about the life and achievements of her father-in-law.

A dance-drama entitled Jeevan, based on Bachchan's poems, will be presented by renowned Kathak dancer and choreographer Vaswati Mishra and her troupe.

Bachchan's best-known work is Madhushala, a series of quatrains or rubai. On the surface, the book seems like an ode to alcohol, but is actually an allegory about the complexity of life. Madhushala has been recited by Amitabh and sung by Manna De on tape.

Amitabh'f family to dance away to global glory!

In an attempt to bring the magic of Bollywood to audiences across the world, some of India's biggest stars, including Amitabh Bachchan, son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya will embark on a year long global tour, during which they will perform some of their best known numbers.

"We aim to make this a global media event where some of India's best stars will perform and thousands of expatriates will get to see them in action. The tour, which is called the Unforgettable Tour, will kick off in April next year and travel to all parts of the world including Africa, the Middle East, US, Canada and Europe," Viraf Sarkari, Director of Wizcraft, which is organising the tour, told reporters in Yorkshire.

Reminiscing about his very first tour abroad, Amitabh Bachchan said he had accompanied Lata Mangeshkar to her tour of the US and later with Kalyanji Anandji in 1983. "It was then I realised that the expatriate population really wants to see us and that we should do more tours. I am very glad that I will be part of this group of youngsters," Bachchan said.

Other stars who are going on the tour include Bipasha Basu, Lara Dutta, and Riteish Deshmukh.

Aishwarya Rai also expressed her happiness that this would be the first time that she would be touring with her father-in-law and her new husband, saying "I think this will be a very good tour for me both personally and professionally. I am hoping to entertain audiences all around the world."

"We are also spreading the message of global warming through this tour and that I think is a very crucial message. We will appeal to people to consider that there are certain things that we have to do for the environment," Abhishek said.