Not too many people know this. But another Amitabh Bachchan starrer was released last week.

The premiere of the mega-star's first Kannada film "Amrithdhare" took place in Bangalore Friday. Audiences in the theatres went berserk and jumped on to their seats when they heard the mega star speaking in Kannada.

"Really?" Bachchan, currently shooting in far-away Rajasthan, is amazed.

"It's hard to believe. Mine was only a walk-on part. I just slip into the film and slip out. But it's nice to know audiences in Bangalore have reacted so positively to my small presence in the film. I love the city of Bangalore and its people," Bachchan told IANS.

Going back to the Rajasthan deserts for the shooting of Vidhu Vinod Chopra's "Eklavya" has given the film's leading man a sense of deja vu.

"This is where it all started in a way," he says reminiscing the good old days of Sunil Dutt's "Reshma Aur Shera" when the entire unit would hang around together.

"It was so much fun back then. All of us - Sunil Dutt Saab, Waheedaji, Raakhee and me had loads of fun. Now for 'Eklavya', I feel the same sense of bonding with Vinod Chopra's unit. The entire unit - Vinod, Pradeep Sarkar, Jackie Shroff, Saif and Vidya Balan - feels like one family," says the Big B.

"We lost two days of the schedule when it rained incessantly. But we have two days extra to make up for the loss."

The film earlier entitled "Yagna" has now been titled "Eklavya".

Said Bachchan, "Yes, that's the name of my character. I don't know if Vinod means to honor me by naming the film after my character. If he does, then I am honored. We have wanted to work together for a long time. It feels wonderful to be working with new directors. I just completed 'Ek Ajnabee' with Apoorva Lakhiya. Vinod and Apoorva belong to different generations of filmmakers. It feels good to be bridging that gap."

Incidentally, both "Eklavya" and Karan Johar's "Kabhi Alvidaa Na Kehna" are in sync sound, where the artist's original dialogues are used rather than using the tedious process of 'dubbing' over the dialogues at the post-production stage.

"I think live sound is the best method to work. It captures the real sounds and allows an actor's voice quality to come into play. I think our films are getting extremely techno-savvy," he said.