The last few days have been busy ones for the Bachchans. Daddy Dearest made his debut on the small screen with his Kaun Banega Crorepati show last week. Beating him just by a few days, beta Abhishek made his big-screen bow in Refugee. Both received mixed reviews for their latest endeavours.

J.P. Dutta’s Refugee may have taken a critical drubbing the very day it opened, but reviewers have been more gentle with Abhishek. His brooding looks, his arresting screen presence and even his earthy appeal have earned him a favourable press. Some critics have referred to him as ‘‘wooden’’, but others point out that his role offered little scope to really showcase acting prowess and insist that he is a long-distance runner.

Following very much in the footsteps of his father, Abhishek was wary of the media for months before the release of Refugee. His interviews -- a few, carefully by the young actor himself -- however, never betray the fact that he is painfully shy, a trait that has been discussed extensively in the media. ‘‘It takes him some time to get comfortable with people,’’ his director J.P.Dutta has said of his new actor. But once he chooses to speak, Abhishek is anything but modest. ‘‘I’m not perturbed by comparisons with my father. Those are bound to happen,’’ he once observed. ‘‘Why should I resent the comparisons? I’m flattered. After all, I’m being compared to the best actor in the business.’’

The Big B, in contrast, has always chosen modesty over openly acknowledging his super-popularity. When chosen by London’s Madame Tussaud’s to be immortalised in wax, over the claims of Raj Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai, a graceful Bachchan Sr accepted the honour, but remarked, ‘‘I could have thought of others who deserved this more than me.’’

In less than a week since it premiered on Star Plus, his Crorepati show has found a vast audience across the country. Participants on the show have said they were often rendered tongue-tied in Bachchan’s presence, even faltering in their answers as a result. But the star-host himself appears calm, collected, but never too excited or too familiar with the participants. Urging the candidate to ‘‘think again’’, then, once the answer is given, checking whether they’re confident about going ahead with it, Bachchan has been accused of sometimes intimidating a candidate into changing his mind at the last minute. As once woman who had participated in the show remarks, ‘‘He asked if I was sure about my answer. I was, but the way he asked, I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps he was hinting that I should think again as my answer might be wrong.’’

In contrast, Abhishek is distant, even aloof. ‘‘Give him time. He is only just getting used to all the attention,’’ says producer Shrishti Behl, whose movie the young actor is currently working in. ‘‘All through his childhood, he has seen his parents face ups and downs in this business. No wonder he’s being very wary of everyone around him.’’

Abhishek, unlike his father who has always insisted that he does not need to prove anything to anyone, is clearly keen to show he has what it takes to excel. Sensing that his non-glamorous, sober avtaar in Refugee may send out the wrong signals that he is interested in doing only ‘‘realistic’’ cinema, the actor has ensured that his second release is a breezy romance (Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya) which will display not just his acting skills but also those typical features of a Bollywood potboiler: dancing, action and heavy-duty melodrama.

Fiercely discreet about his personal life -- like his father -- Abhishek has been careful when it comes to acknowledging personal relationships. Rumours suggesting a romance with Karisma Kapoor have been floating around for some time and the two have been spotted together on several occasions. He has neither repudiated them nor acknowledged their veracity. Magazines have even insisted that the families of both the young stars have decided on a wedding in 2001.

Incidentally, the father and son duo have a joint project lined up. Aware that a project of this nature will not only arouse both audience and media interest, but prove a good bet in the movie marketplace, Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan are all set to feature in a film to be produced by Vashu Bhagnani. Aptly titled Beta No 1, the proposed film project has yet to acquire a director.

The Bachchan family’s tradition of not displaying emotion in public has prompted some to compare them to British royalty. Amitabh has constantly refrained from according fulsome praise to his son. ‘‘Let’s see if he can find a place for himself in this industry,’’ is what he has ventured so far. But, on the whole, he seems pleased with his son’s performance, observing that Abhishek seems ‘‘comfortable on the screen’’ in Refugee. ‘‘It is not for me to decide how competent or not he is. We’ll leave that to the audience,’’ he adds.

While it is likely that die-hard loyalists of the legendary actor will give his son a chance to prove himself, the young star will certainly have to win his spurs before people decide whether he has done justice to the family name. Meanwhile, the older actor takes on yet another challenging role -- this time on television. But whether he will be able to keep millions of viewers glued to their screens every time the show breaks for advertisements, remains to be seen. Like Kaun Banega Crorepati shows, there is an element of chance in every venture!