'I can't enter politics'

Says actor Ajay Devgan, “Power corrupts people and you need to be shrewd and play games to be in politics.” While the actor will be seen playing a politician in the film Raajneeti, he says he can never be one in real life. In the film Yuva too, he had portrayed a character who is young but jumps into the political fray. “I personally think politics is not bad, in the sense people in politics turn out to be bad. Politics is important for the nation and good politics is very important to run the world. If right people come to politics, the country will prosper.”

He adds, “I think power corrupts people. People who want to do good things become corrupt once they come to power. You can’t just blame the politicians. Where do they come from? From our society, we bring them. If they become corrupt, then we are corrupt, society is corrupt. Whom do we blame?”

Prakash Jha’s Raajneeti gives an incisive look at the electoral politics of India and digs into the unscrupulous motives of the politicians behind their pledge of reformation. Ajay Devgan says his character in the film is inspired by Karna in the epic Mahabharata.

“Mine is not a negative character. He does things as the character is supposed to do. The characters are inspired by the Mahabharata. And I am playing the character of Karna, a person who was on the wrong side, knowing he is on the wrong side,” Ajay says. “When he was asked to come to the right side, he knew he could come and be the boss, but he refused. He was selfless only for a promise he had made and that’s what my character is all about,” he adds.

The dark political drama also stars talented performers like Manoj Bajpai, Naseeruddin Shah, Nana Patekar, Arjun Rampal, Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. There were reports that Katrina's character was modelled on Congress President Sonia Gandhi, but Ajay says the film has no resemblance to real-life politicians. “I think that no incident in the film or the characters are inspired from any real political incident. Not that I can pinpoint any particular incident. But when you see the film, you will be shocked to see real motives that we people don’t understand. We read newspapers where we are told that this has happened because of this reason and we understand that. When you see the film, you will know that it gets dirtier,” he said.

The actor says he has no plans to join politics. “I can’t enter politics because I am not cut for it. I won’t be able to manage it. You have to be very shrewd, smart and you need to know to play games even if you want to do good politics to counter the bad people. I don't think I am cut for that.”

After Raajneeti, Ajay will be seen in a new look in the third installment of the laugh riot Golmaal, but he is reluctant to reveal any details about his look and character so early. “I have been told not to talk about Golmaal 3. I can only say it has no resemblance to its earlier parts. It’s a hardcore comedy. When you see the film, you will come to know why I have taken this look,” he says.