Filmfare interviews Mr Amitabh Bachchan about his and his son's success. A must read!

This year you've had four successes, all very different from one another. Must be a good feeling.

It's been very rewarding, commercially, aesthetically and creatively. The fact that these films have succeeded speaks volumes for audience tastes. I think we underestimate their intelligence by giving them formulaic projects. They are discerning and will acknowledge good cinema. It's encouraging to see so many hits coming out this year. It's great for the industry. Personally, it's been wonderful to get an opportunity to enact diverse roles.

Bunty Aur Babli and Sarkar gave you and Abhishek a chance to be diverse together!

If you'd like to put it that way. B & B and Sarkar coming back-to-back with the same artistes, but diametrically different in content and feel, and rocking the box office, is any actor's dream come true. I've experienced this earlier on in my career on several occasions. For it to happen at age 62 is miraculous. But I feel proud and exhilarated for Abhishek. It's quite remarkable for a young actor to have been through all that he has and come out with flying colours.

After Bunty Aur Babli and Sarkar, it was Dus. But Abhishek has gone through a lot of churning to get here, hasn't he?

It's not easy to be subjected to humiliation and ridicule and still have the temerity to fight back. But he did it and did it on his own. It's made a man of him. The praise and recognition have been awe-inspiring. It's been a dream run! But the operative word is dream. And dreams don't last too long. Suddenly you are wide awake and facing reality. As a father, I can only hope and pray that it remains this way but we all know that the situation is not forever. There will be disappointments and failures and roadblocks. Success and setbacks are parallel companions. It's more important to reserve your comments on them than gloat.

Individually, and as a father-son duo, the two of you are now a formidable force, with formidable brand equity.

This is typical Western 21st century jingoism. They love to categorise and label every phenomenon. Any entity that succeeds commercially bears the risk of being categorised as brand equity. As professional actors who have had a certain modicum of success, we can be termed a brand. And because the success factor has commercial connotations, we are looked at as equity. In simple terms, what would be in order is to say that, for the moment, we sell. Formidable force? Go check the statistics!

Well, your statistics would show that there has never been a star with your success record. What would you say to that?

That round the corner there is someone else who will better your record and statistics. That the old shall have to step back and allow the young to take over. That's the way of the world. And if you resist, you shall certainly be run over.

The whole of last year trade magazines criticised, joked and laughed at my performances at the box office. They carried sarcastic and unflattering caricatures of mine. This year, so far, they've drawn pictures of positivism and excellence. That's a sign of our success, I guess. Tomorrow they could be back to their wisecracks. This is show business.

Perennial success is an aberration. The sooner you realise it, the better it shall be for your constitution. I would like to believe that I am sensible enough not to succumb to such fallacies.