I wasn't taught to differentiate between caste, creed: Big B

Kolkata, July 27 (IANS) Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who is playing a pivotal role in "Aarakshan", about caste issues, Wednesday said he was not brought up in an atmosphere to believe in caste, creed and religion.

"I personally believe that I was not born in an atmosphere which taught me to differentiate between caste, creed and religion," said Bachchan when asked about his personnel views on differentiation of caste and creed.

"My father was from Uttar Pradesh, my mother was a Sikh. When I was about to be admitted in the school, my father gave the surname Bachchan, which was his pen name and I am proud of it. Looking at which or reading at which you will not be able to determine which caste I belong to."

"I have married (Jaya) a Bengali. My brother (Ajitabh) married a Sindhi, my daughter (Shweta) married a Punjabi, my son (Abhishek) has married a Tulu (Aishwarya Rai)," Big B said.

Big B along with filmmaker Prakash Jha was in the city to promote their upcoming film "Aarakshan". It is a socio-political drama which deals with the controversial policy of caste-based reservations in government jobs and educational institutions.

He plays an idealistic principal of an educational institution and believes everybody in the society should get equal opportunity.

The movie is scheduled to release on Aug 12.

When asked about his personal stand on reservation in India, Amitabh said: "I personally look at it from the point of view of the character of a principal. I play the role of principal who is bit of idealist. Because of his idealism, he conducts classes in his home free of cost for those students who do not have the means."

"He does not believe in caste or creed and he follows the principle of providing equal opportunities to everybody as there are many people who do not have the means."

Amitabh feels that working in "Aarakshan" has been a life-time education for him.

"I went through a lot of research. I was educated regarding several aspects. I got greater knowledge about the issue. It was a great learning experience. I also believe that everybody should get equal opportunity and everybody should come on one platform. The role justifies my belief," he said.

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Aarakshan