"I play computer games with my grandson but I lose all the time," Bachchan says. Agastya Nanda, Bachchan's grandson, is the son of his daughter, Shweta Nanda and industrialist Nikhil Nanda.

Yet, the actor launched online games, one of the marketting tools of his film, Baabul.

The games were launched by two companies, Mauj (a mobile portal) and Hungama, a gaming company. The mobile games would cost Rs 50 each while Hungama's games would be free for Internet users. 

Ravi Chopra's Baabul revolves around widow remarriage, and stars Bachchan, Hema Malini [Images], Salman Khan [Images], John Abraham [Images] and Rani Mukerji [Images].

Bachchan admitted that he did not know how to play the Baabul games, and added that he wanted to learn.

"I had brought a video game 20 years ago when it was a new concept. I had played then," Bachchan says.

"I use the mobile phone to talk," he says. After a pause, he adds, "I also know to read and send SMS messages."

Bachchan added that he was happy that films were being promoted in novel ways. "If these technologies were available in time of Sholay [Images] or Mughal-E-Azam, I am sure we would have used it then," he says.

Later, he surprised the audience by stating that Shah Rukh Khan [Images] had gifted him a video game and promised to come to his home and play it with him. "Obviously, he didn't get time to come and even I didn't have time to open and see what the game is all about," Bachchan joked.

SRK [Images], incidentally, loves games, and is hooked on to Sony's Play Station.

Text: Syed Firdaus Ashraf | Photograph: Pradeep Bandekar