'Maa' is a modern mix of mythology and horror: Kajol

She is brisk but not hassled. As Kajol moves from one camera setup to the next, she neither throws starry tantrums nor shows a lack of enthusiasm.

She has been at it for many hours, and my first question makes her guffaw.

You have completed 35 years in cinema, if we count the launch of Bekhudi. But you look just 35! What’s the secret?

You should say I don’t look even 35! Seriously, it’s about remaining true to yourself and always doing what will make you happy, and not about pleasing others. When I grow old, I alone must take credit for all my good decisions or responsibility for my mistakes. At the moment, I am rather proud of myself! (Grins broadly)

You have now entered the horror space.

Yes, but do you know that we did not set out to make a horror film?

I had some favourite stories in childhood, and one was about goddess Kali maa and the demon, Raktbeej. I’m a big mythological buff, so I have told this saga to my children as well. When this story came to me in concept form, we thought we will make it like a thriller, a really tight thriller. 

But as we kept nearing the climax in the writing, we realised that we cannot keep it that way. Our characters had become so big that we needed horror as a tag to justify them, justify the climax and satisfy the audience and make a world that we wanted to show.

All this shows that you were also creatively involved with the film.

Not really, because I am not at all familiar with the technical aspects. But since you mention the word ‘creatively’, yes, I did tell them that I would like to change certain things. Films are always made as a team, and luckily my director, Vishal Furia, has been successful at horror and had the sense and sensibility needed for the genre. And horror films have a specific pitch, so he had to explain quite a lot of things to me about how I must do certain sequences. He said that I had to understand what was going to come on screen before my scene and also after it. 

So the film is a kind of ‘sequel in spirit’ to Shaitaan. Buzz is that this is the beginning of Ajay Devgn’s Devil’s Universe.

(Grins again) I hope so! Our tagline for Maa is ‘Evil Versus Faith’. But it is a completely different world from Shaitaan. Look, a pure mythological subject would be a completely different film and yet would not connect with the widest audience, which is very important. We had even kept ‘Maa’ only as a working title, but then we realised that it was apt for a modern-day mix of mythological with horror, because the word has many layers and emotions.

Ajay has produced several films starring you and him and some featuring you alone, but has directed you only once, in U Me Aur Hum. But he is a techno geek right from the 1998 Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha. Did he direct you here in any way?

Well, this film has a lot of VFX, and his entire team (NY VFXWala) was around for these scenes. Ajay was there too to guide me. I have always said that he is one of our smartest directors and I would definitely love to be directed by him again.