In the film, the life of Guru spans a 30-year journey, from ambitious bachelor to wealthy industrialist.
The quiet director preferred to let his stars do the talking. Amitabh Bachchan asked Abhishek how he felt when Mani approached him for the role. "The first reaction was 'Thank God, he called me for this role,'" smiled Abhishek.
"It was one of the toughest roles in my career and Mani sir discussed it with me for nearly 10 months before we went ahead to shoot the film," he revealed.
But that was all one would get from the leading man, sealing his lips saying his director had forbidden him from saying anything else about the movie.