Actor Ranveer Singh has credited megastar Amitabh Bachchan for bringing out the performer in him and making him realise his love for cinema.
Sharing anecdotes from his growing up years, the 29-year-old Gunday star said Mr Bachchan has been a source of inspiration throughout his life.
"Amitabh Bachchan has had a great influence on the Indian pop culture and on me. He is an icon, a living legend in the truest sense. My earliest and fondest memories of engaging with Hindi cinema are all directly related to Amitabh Bachchan.
"My dadi (grandmother) used to say that I should grow up and become a hero like him. Once at a party, I was dancing and the crowd gathered and they started whistling and clapping. That was my first experience of being a performer and the song was Amitabh Bachchan's famous number Jumma Chumma," said Ranveer.
The Band Baaja Baaraat actor said at a time when he had no hopes of making it big in the film industry because he was an outsider with no connections, Mr Bachchan's influence became a turning point in his life.
"The question of becoming a hero was getting bigger and serious for me day by day. I was an outsider, so I felt I didn't have a chance. But I wanted to be close to acting, so I opted for creative writing. I went to America to pursue that and in one class I got to enact the epic 'Mere paas maa hai' scene from Deewaar.
"It was again Amitabh Bachchan's influence, which became a turning point in my life. No one there understood what I said but they all clapped. That was again a time when I realised that I loved being a performer. I told my father that I just want to act. He asked me to complete graduation and then chase my dream. That day changed it all for me. I decided that I will try my hand at becoming a Bollywood hero," he said.
Ranveer said the 72-year-old actor has touched not only his life but also the lives of many people around him in some way or the other. "In the coming years, I believe Bollywood will be defined as BB and AB - 'Before Bachchan' and 'After Bachchan'."
