Amitabh Bachchan is joining the project which originally starred Padukone opposite veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, who passed away last April following a two-year battle with cancer. The Intern also reunites the two actors, Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone after the 2015 critical hit Piku. Amit Ravindernath Sharma of Badhaai Ho! fame will direct the film.
Amitabh Bachchan will play the Robert De Niro role, which was set to be played by Rishi Kapoor before he died suddenly in April 2020. Padukone is in the Anne Hathaway role.
Padukone, who is also producing the project with Sunir Khetarpal, took to Instagram on Monday to share the news of Bachchan’s casting.
“What an absolute honour to be collaborating with one of my most special co-star again! Welcoming @amitabhbachchan to the Indian adaptation of #TheIntern,” the actor-producer captioned her post.
What would ‘The Intern’ be like if Rishi Kapoor had been alive?
In his long career, Rishi Kapoor has played various types of roles. It is pretty easy to see him play the iconic role of Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro).
In the movie, seventy-year-old widower Ben Whittaker (DeNiro), applies to become a senior intern for sceptical boss at an online fashion site after he realises that he is not cut out for retirement. He is an easy-going old man who later on forms a great friendship with his boss, Anne Hathaway.
It’s debatable that as compared to Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor would have been more subtle as Ben Whittaker. In his previous movies also, Kapoor has played the role with similar characteristics as Whittaker; being a friendly old man with sparks of humor and determination.
It’s true, that being the iconic actor that he is, Big B can pretty easily pull off this character. However, it would have been equally as interesting, if not more, to see Rishi Kapoor play the role.
Many films by Rishi Kapoor like Do Dooni Chaar, Kapoor & Sons, 102 Not Out gave crucial advice on sustainability, family, and death. Veteran actor’s 102 Not Out showed how to live to the fullest on the cusp of death same as DeNiro’s role in ‘The Intern’ like he was not ready to give at old age and did not want to retire.
Amitabh’s voice is not just powerful, but it has a deep baritone, which makes it more unique, While Robert DeNiro’s voice is very noble and not as powerful as Amitabh Bachchan’s. The voice and tone that DeNiro has used in the movie ‘The Intern’ could be more fits to Late Rishi Kapoor than Amitabh Bachchan. There is no denying fact that Amitabh Bachchan will play the Whittaker’s role as perfect as DeNiro played in The Intern movie.
DeNiro’s and Hathaway’s: The Intern(2015)
Directed by Nancy Meyers, the original film revolved around a 70-year-old widower (Robert De Niro) who becomes a senior intern at an online fashion website, where he forms an unlikely friendship with the company’s workaholic CEO (Anne Hathaway). The Intern, distributed worldwide by Warner Bros, was a box office success, grossing USD 195 million worldwide. Meyers also served as the writer and producer on the film.
