New Delhi: Actor Will Smith, one of the most popular Hollywood stars in India, Saturday said it is a part of his wishlist to work in a Bollywood masala entertainer with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
“One of the things on my bucket list is to be on a Bollywood dance sequence. I met Aishwarya 15 years ago, we had conversations about doing something together but never happened. Perhaps I would do a film with her,” Smith said.
The actor, who recently celebrated his 50th birthday with a bungee jump over the Grand Canyon in the US, was in conversation with Farhan Akhtar at a session of Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2018.
Smith, whose diverse filmography ranges from “Ali”, “Pursuit of Happyness” and “Ray” to “Independence Day”, “I Am Legend” and “Suicide Squad”, said he loves being in India as he finds the contrast “very beautiful”.
“On any street corner you could cross a thousand years. There could be someone on a brand new cellphone and someone on a cart. The intermingling of the ages and the lifestyle is amazing,” he said.
The actor considers “Ali”, the 2001 biographical sports drama, a pivotal part of his career and said it marked his transformation as a performer.
“Playing Muhammad Ali was the most formative time in my career. It changed me forever.”
He recalled the reaction of boxing legend to the film.
“I was sitting behind Muhammad Ali when he was watching ‘Ali’ for the first time. For an hour he didn’t move and I thought he hates it.
“There is a scene where I was screaming and he turned to his wife and said, ‘Was I that crazy?’ and he turned to me and said, ‘Man, you’ve done a great job’.”
Before being an actor, Smith was popular as a hip hop artiste and he said his foray into acting was not a planned one.
“My transition from music to films wasn’t really a choice. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) took all my stuff and I moved to LA. I got rid of everything in Philadelphia. I was broke and our next album flopped. I had gone from having millions of dollars to going broke,” the actor said.
Smith revealed that his childhood was turbulent, something that he never wanted his children to witness.
“My childhood wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be. There was violence as I grew up. So I wanted certain things for my kids. The family me and my wife have created is the coming together of a 40-year old dream. I always wanted to get married and have a happy family,” he said.
The actor said his son Jaden’s 2010 hit film “The Karate Kid” made him very proud and he felt that he achieved everything in terms of family.
PTI