This superstar had newspapers flown in from Mumbai to Bangkok, would send them back via evening flight: ‘He would sit with a marker and…’

Apoorva Lakhia recalled working with Amitabh Bachchan during the filming of Ek Ajnabee in Bangkok. The director shared that the iconic actor had a unique routine where every morning, his assistant would fly in newspapers from Mumbai.

Amitabh Bachchan would write personal messages in the newspapers and make sure they were sent back to Mumbai on the evening flight. In a chat with Friday Talkies, Apoorva said, “At that time, there used to be a morning flight (from Mumbai) to Bangkok, and it used to go back (to Mumbai) in the evening. So Rosy (his secretary), would collect all the newspapers and she would send them on the flight. And here, someone would collect all the newspapers and give them to Amit ji and he would read all of them."

Apoorva further mentioned, “He would sit with a marker and mark out a few things and then the papers would go back to India at night."

During the same conversation, Apoorva Lakhia recalled an amusing experience of taking Amitabh Bachchan to a strip club in Bangkok. He mentioned that the veteran actor was known for not needing much sleep and often wanted to make plans after the shoot. On one occasion, this led them to a strip club in Bangkok to watch a live show.

“I said, ‘Sir, this is Patpong, there are live shows here, if I take you, there will be riots. He said, ‘No, we will go’. So, I said let’s go," he mentioned.

Apoorva Lakhia then took Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Vikram Chatwal, Perizaad Zorabian, and Bunty Walia to a red-light district in Bangkok, adding another unforgettable moment to their trip.

He said, "Amit ji was wearing a shirt which was buttoned down (almost the whole way) and he was wearing a Thai dhoti-like thing. Amit ji had never seen such a show. So imagine, we went with Amit ji for the show, and the Indians there went crazy. He was walking as if he was in Juhu."

Ek Ajnabee was an Indian remake of Tony Scott’s 2004 film Man on Fire, which starred Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning.