'He is the soul of a party'

Romesh Sharma

I first met Jaya Bachchan at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. She was my senior at the Institute. I met Amit through her.

I was just starting out those days. We used to have a lot of time on our hands. We met often, played squash and badminton in the evenings and went out together. We had a lot of fun those days. There were no responsibilities, no big successes to carry forward. We would go driving in the rain, go into town or drive out of town, just whiling away time.

We miss those times. We have all become so busy. Yet whenever we meet, we go back to our old relationship. We would exchange a look and start laughing and get nostalgic. We have shared so much together without really working together.

When we did work together it was a pleasure. That was quite a remarkable experience. I did one film with him, Hum. There was this one shot we had to do where he had to get up before sunrise. It was winter in Udhagamandalam (Ooty). Amit wanted to do it himself.

He would wake up every morning at 4.30, and that would make my life difficult because to get things moving at that hour was not easy. He did the same thing for three days till we got the shot. And he didn't even need to be in the shot.

Where work is concerned he is perfectly all there, but when he lets his hair down, he can be so much fun. I haven't met anybody with whom you can have so much lighthearted fun. When friends sit together and chat he is just the soul of a party.

The three of us -- Amitabh, Danny [Denzongpa] and me -- had so much fun. We would often listen to music sometimes. Danny and he would also compose music. With him around, you didn't need to look for fun.

He is a remarkable son. I haven't seen anybody do what he has done for his parents. When he was performing at shows abroad, he would fly back just to spend a little time with them. The emotion he shares with them is incredible. He is an extremely good father. He cares and shares with his children.

He hasn't changed in the 30 years I have known him. Amitabh is very reliable. You can count on him. That is an amazing quality. In such a relationship what is unsaid is the essence of the relationship.

Romesh Sharma spoke to Lata Khubchandani