Bachchan: Rajnikanth told me not to play villain in ‘Robot’

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has revealed his good friend Tamil superstar Rajinikanth told him not to play villain in the former’s blockbuster “Robot”.

The 2010 Tamil movie, directed by Shankar, starred Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in lead roles.

“Shankar had come to me and he wanted me to play the villain (in ‘Robot’). I called Rajini. He said, ‘people will not accept you as a villain, so don’t do it’ I said ok,” Bachchan said in an interview in Mumbai.

There were reports that Bachchan was approached for “Robot 2”, but the star dismissed it, saying he was not offered the role.

Meanwhile, gossip mills are also abuzz that Bachchan would be a part of “Dhoom 4”.

To this, he said, “I heard it for the first time.”

The 73-year-old actor will be next seen in Bejoy Nambiar’s “Wazir” with Farhan Akhtar and Aditi Rao Hydari. He will also be seen in Sujoy Ghosh’s “Aankhen 2”.

“We will start ‘Aankhen 2’ in March. I play the same role,” he said.

“Aankhen”, a 2002 heist thriller drama, was directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. The film was an adaptation of Shah’s own Gujarati play “Andhalo Pato”.

It told the story of Vijay Singh Rajput (Bachchan) a hard-working but temperamental man, who has spent all his life working for one bank and even achieving them international recognition.

When Vijay loses his mind and goes on a violent rampage beating up another employee, he is subsequently fired. He decides to take vengeance by organising a full on heist, and having the same bank robbed by three blind men, as no one will suspect them.