<p>"Aarakshan is a film on the reservation policy for securing placements in education and jobs for the poor and underprivileged and those that get affected because of their caste," Bachchan told a press conference here on the Prakash Jha film.<br /><br />"The two earlier films Saat Hindustani, Main Azaad Hoon (on nationalism) were more event-based and this is my first take on a serious footing which deals with a challenging issue."</p>.<p>Asked about his beliefs on the issue, the 68-year-old superstar said he has not been brought up in an environment which bred prejudice and casteism.</p>.<p>"My father a kayastha from Uttar Pradesh had married a Sikh woman. At the time of my school admission my father deliberately kept out the surname of Srivastava and instead opted for the middle name Bachchan as my surname. I am proud of that.</p>.<p>"My brother married a Sindhi and my daughter married a Punjabi. My son married a girl of different caste from the South while I am your 'jamai' (brother-in-law) having married a Bengali. So this probably answers your queries whether I am a believer in casteism," Bachchan said. <br /><br />Bachchan portrays the role of an institute principal Prabhakar Anand who does not believe in casteism by employing a Dalit teacher played by Saif Ali Khan and arranges free classes for poor students.<br /><br />"He is a person who makes no caste distinction among students. He is an erudite individual."<br /><br />Bachchan said, "I went through a lot of research. Every day we sat on the scenes after the shoot was over - I and Jha who is such a learned person. I learnt a lot from him about the issue, the way he looked at it. I look at it as a great learning experience ... The role justifies our hard work in every way."<br /><br />Asked about any similarity between his role as a principal in Mohabbatein and in Aarakshan, Bachchan quipped "the similarity does end here."<br /><br />On why he took up the offer, Bachchan said, "haven't I already explained that? When an offer is made to us we see if it as challenging. Artistes have very strong feelings to ideas. <br />And, once Prakashji came up with the thought I could not say no."<br /><br />To a question if the film could lead to social tension, Bachchan replied, "Why are we assuming there will be trouble? That's an unfair assessment. There is this beauty in poetic justice in Hindi films, let's say in all films, at the end of 2 to 3 hours."<br /><br />Bachchan highly rated the performance of his co-actors Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Manoj Bajpai and others.</p>.<p>The superstar, who never gives up an opportunity "to work in a good film" even at his age finds the new crop of film-makers very talented.</p>
<p>"Aarakshan is a film on the reservation policy for securing placements in education and jobs for the poor and underprivileged and those that get affected because of their caste," Bachchan told a press conference here on the Prakash Jha film.<br /><br />"The two earlier films Saat Hindustani, Main Azaad Hoon (on nationalism) were more event-based and this is my first take on a serious footing which deals with a challenging issue."</p>.<p>Asked about his beliefs on the issue, the 68-year-old superstar said he has not been brought up in an environment which bred prejudice and casteism.</p>.<p>"My father a kayastha from Uttar Pradesh had married a Sikh woman. At the time of my school admission my father deliberately kept out the surname of Srivastava and instead opted for the middle name Bachchan as my surname. I am proud of that.</p>.<p>"My brother married a Sindhi and my daughter married a Punjabi. My son married a girl of different caste from the South while I am your 'jamai' (brother-in-law) having married a Bengali. So this probably answers your queries whether I am a believer in casteism," Bachchan said. <br /><br />Bachchan portrays the role of an institute principal Prabhakar Anand who does not believe in casteism by employing a Dalit teacher played by Saif Ali Khan and arranges free classes for poor students.<br /><br />"He is a person who makes no caste distinction among students. He is an erudite individual."<br /><br />Bachchan said, "I went through a lot of research. Every day we sat on the scenes after the shoot was over - I and Jha who is such a learned person. I learnt a lot from him about the issue, the way he looked at it. I look at it as a great learning experience ... The role justifies our hard work in every way."<br /><br />Asked about any similarity between his role as a principal in Mohabbatein and in Aarakshan, Bachchan quipped "the similarity does end here."<br /><br />On why he took up the offer, Bachchan said, "haven't I already explained that? When an offer is made to us we see if it as challenging. Artistes have very strong feelings to ideas. <br />And, once Prakashji came up with the thought I could not say no."<br /><br />To a question if the film could lead to social tension, Bachchan replied, "Why are we assuming there will be trouble? That's an unfair assessment. There is this beauty in poetic justice in Hindi films, let's say in all films, at the end of 2 to 3 hours."<br /><br />Bachchan highly rated the performance of his co-actors Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Manoj Bajpai and others.</p>.<p>The superstar, who never gives up an opportunity "to work in a good film" even at his age finds the new crop of film-makers very talented.</p>