Follow Us
Join UsAfter tasting the grand success of Golmaal Again, Ajay Devgn is all set to impress us yet again in Rajkumar Gupta’s Raid. The film also stars Ileana D’Cruz and Saurabh Shukla in the pivotal roles and it is slated to release on March 16, 2018.
Recently, we met Ajay Devgn for the Raid interviews. From Raid, to Taanaji, to Golmaal 5, to Singham 3, star system decline, next generation actors…Ajay candidly spoke about almost everything that you need to know about!
Excerpts from the interview:
Have you encountered an actual raid ever?
I’ve been raided once in the ’90s. I didn’t encounter it because I was shooting out of town. It went on for a day or two and in the end, they got nothing.
Raid is a true story. But how much it has been fictionalized?
Every film needs to be fictionalized because otherwise, it gets very boring. So it is just the screenplay. It is fictionalized as much as news people do.
There’s always been a debate that whatever is shown in the film is a reflection of the society. How do you look at it?
It is a fact! We make films what is happening in our society technically. Nothing is from outside. We are a corrupt society, so we show corruption. From the 50s or 60s, you pick up every decade, you see what kind of films have been made at that time. If you analyze that, you will realize that it is exactly what the society was at that time. So whatever is happening in the society is relevant. The stories of films are picked from here only.
You have had back to back films which were successful commercially as well as critically. Was there a phase ever in your career that you felt lost while doing your work?
I’ve been very lucky in that sense. Everybody goes through a phase when films don’t do well but someone analyzed it for me that in my whole career, except for a year or two, there has never been a year when I didn’t have a hit. Maybe if there are two or three flops, there has always been a hit. I’ve luckily never had a phase where I was struggling.
You just did a comedy film. Now, Raid is a serious genre. What kind of genres interests you or you are looking forward to?
I like rotating my genres, doing different things. Otherwise, I will get bored. I did Golmaal now Raid, then a rom-com and then Dhamaal. I think I’ve been lucky that I’ve tried most of the genres and they all have worked. Otherwise, an actor starts struggling. He wants to break out of a genre and then it gets very difficult. It (trying new genres) has got nothing to do with the stereotype. It’s about me enjoying my work and not getting repetitive and bored.
Trending
After Raid, you will be working for Taanaji. Recently Padmaavat faced several backlashes and even Manikarnika is facing similar issues. What precautions are you taking for the same?
My film is very straight and clean. I think it is following history. If somebody has an issue, I know how to sort it out. Because there is nothing controversial in my film. So I am not worried about it.
Do you think directors would be scared to take such projects after what all happened with Sanjay Leela Bhansali?
It is sad. I think when you have a censor board and the law, that should be the final decision.
Is Golmaal 5 on the cards?
It will happen eventually. Script mil jaye ek baar!
After so many new actors have come in the industry, still you, Akshay Kumar and the three Khans are the superstars in the industry. So do you think that the decline of the star system is nearing and your generation would be the last of the superstars to enjoy the matchless adulation?
I think we were very lucky because when we had started work, the kind of fan following we got at that point in time, they were very loyal fans. Till today they maintain that and watch our films. The new generation who is watching films, they have become very sensible, smart and intelligent. They go by the content, film to film. This will keep on changing. They will decide if the film is good or not, it won’t matter who is in the film.
Is Singham 3 happening?
Yes! The script work is on.
Recently, Varun Dhawan announced his next Rannbhoomi which is releasing in 2019 Diwali. So the next generation has come now to block release dates…
I have stopped blocking dates now because once you block a date, then you have to be in a hurry because you have a deadline. So now I want to finish a film and then decide when to release. I feel the system of blocking date is gone. There is no system of blocking date. Today I announce a date, hundred percent someone else will announce his date as well. So, let me be the second one to announce it. It doesn’t matter. It’s no one’s fault.
Clashes are not good but then you don’t have a choice. It’s nobody’s fault anyway. How many Fridays are there? Out of 52 also there are so many Fridays which are not great to release a film.
Who from the current generation you think have the star quality?
All of them are very good. They are hardworking and very bright. Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh…everybody is doing very well. They have all come prepared which is very nice.
