3 minutes of readingChennaiUpdated: February 5, 2026 03:38 pm IST

When Abhishek Bachchan Debuting in the film industry with Refugee in 2000, he faced immense pressure to carry on the legacy of his superstar father, Amitabh Bachchan. Even after 25 years, the actor still faces negativity and criticism about his professional life. In a recent interaction, Abhishek He admitted that constant criticism when films fail makes a person cynical, but he doesn’t let it make him bitter. Abhishek turned 50 on Thursday.

“Of course, you become cynical,” Abhishek told E Times. The actor admitted that it’s hard not to feel cynical when an actor publicly fails week after week. He also shared that failure is often rubbed in an actor’s face and many people around him take pleasure in seeing his downfall. “So you become cynical, but you have to do everything you can to not remain cynical or bitter about it,” he said. However, Abhishek admitted that he is not the kind of person who gets bitter and prefers to look at the bright side of life. He agreed that life has served him well most of the time and sometimes it doesn’t.

Abhishek also spoke about his parents, both respected legends of Hindi cinema, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan, and whether they are proud of him. He shared that they are proud of him as long as he gives his best. Abhishek argued that while others see Amitabh Bachchan only as a hero, for him he is also a father, a family man and a grandfather. “For some reason we thought, ‘Oh no, he’s not allowed to be that or be human,’ but he is,” she said. Abhishek, who calls himself Amitabh’s ‘son’, added that the veteran actor is allowed to feel what all fathers feel.

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Abhishek has not achieved any solo success in the last few years. Several of his recent films failed to perform at the box office including Kaalidhar Laapata, Be Happy, I Want to Talk, Ghoomer and others. His last hit was Housefull 5, which starred Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Shreyas Talpade, Nana Patekar, Jackie Shroff and others.

Abhishek will next be seen in Shah Rukh Khan’s King, which also stars Suhana Khan and Deepika Padukone. He also has Raja Shivaji in the pipeline.