Veteran actor Jaya Bachchan had once called actor Raqesh Bapat her son Abhishek Bachchan’s ‘competition’.  The incident took place when Raqesh met the Bachchan family in July 2001, before the screening of his film ‘Tum Bin’.

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Raqesh also recalled actor Amitabh Bachchan complimenting his debut film.

“On the same day–July 13, 2001, ‘Ak’s had released and that screening was happening before us. So we were waiting in the parking lot. Suddenly I see Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Abhishek, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, everyone stepping out,” he told Indian Express.

“Jaya ji saw me from far away and came to me and said, ‘You’re that Bapat boy right? I’m so proud to meet you, you’re so promising. I keep telling Abhishek to look out for you’.” Raqesh remembered Jaya calling Abhishek, who hugged him and said, “Dude, every time your promo comes, my mom calls me and says look out for this guy, he’s your competition’.”  

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Written and directed by Anubhav Sinha, ‘Tum Bin’ also featured Priyanshu Chatterjee, Sandali Sinha, and Himanshu Malik in leading roles.

The actor also says that Jaya Bachchan introduced Amitabh Bachchan to him.

“Suddenly I was in front of such legends and I didn’t know what to say. Mr Bachchan said Tum Bin looks like a good film. My entire family was in awe seeing the Bachchans in person. My parents almost fainted I think (laughs). My father was against me taking up this profession. He wanted me to get a job. But this instance changed their entire outlook towards what I was doing. These are the validation you get for the work you do,” said Raqesh.