<div align="justify">He has had a mixed run of late — Drishyam (2015) did average business, while Shivaay, which he also produced and directed last year, was appreciated for its technical finesse and action, entered the ‘100 crore club’, but was not exactly a blockbuster. Ajay Devgn, nevertheless, maintains his position as one of our six superstars, five of whom have completed over 25 years in the film industry.<br /><br />Ajay’s newest release is Baadshaho, his fourth with director Milan Luthria after Kachche Dhaage (1999) and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai (2010), besides the unsuccessful Chori Chori (2003). Emraan Hashmi (with whom he has done Once Upon… and Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji) is working with him again in this movie, and so is character artiste Sanjay Mishra, who has worked with Ajay in multiple films, including All The Best that Ajay had produced.<br /><br />Keeping it real<br /><br />But besides them, there are also Ileana D’Cruz, Vidyut Jammwal and Esha Gupta. And together, these six people comprise the ‘Baadshaho’, which means ‘The Emperors’, for each is someone special in this stylised drama. Of these three names, Ajay is especially fond of Vidyut. “It is always great fun when the guy with whom you are doing the action with is very good,” he explains. “Then the timing becomes great. Vidyut’s a very sweet boy,” he says.<br /><br />About the action, says Ajay, “We did not go in for the ‘one kick and 10 people fly’ kind of action. I must say that though, length-wise, there is not much of action, whatever is there is hard-hitting and realistic. Besides that, it is a story of relationships and drama.”<br /><br />With so much experience in the field, and the action-studded Shivaay behind him, did Ajay give any inputs for the action part? “If I suggest something, then I have to devise some idea for its execution too,” he replies, shaking his head. “The action here is not to show off, but it goes with the film.”<br /><br />But for the first time since Ajay’s and Milan’s first collaboration in Kachche Dhaage, we get the same feel from the Baadshaho trailer. The actor nods and says, “It is shot in Rajasthan and in the desert, like that film, so you will have the same feel. Baadshaho has a very Western-like vibe. All the ‘Baadshahos’ are very street-smart, and initially the audience has no clue about who is conning whom.”<br /><br />Ajay’s own character, named Bhavani, is smart, strong, but very emotional. This is also a film wherein every layer of a character unfolds gradually. What about the buzz that Milan decided to cut off a long sensual scene between Ileana and him? The actor wryly says, “All that is misinformation. Milan does not believe in such things forced in for the heck of it, but only if the script really demands it. Even Emraan Hashmi has no kiss in the film!”<br /><br />Speaking of kissing, what is his opinion of the new censor chief Prasoon Joshi, who had made his debut as a lyricist with Ajay’s Lajja? “He should be very good. However, I never had any problems with Pahlaj (Nihalani)ji,” he affirms.<br /><br />Coming to his wife Kajol, has he watched her VIP 2? “Not yet, yaar!” he rues. “I have just come back yesterday, but I plan to catch up now.”<br /><br />That brings us to the film he is producing for her, to be directed by Anand Gandhi of Ship Of Theseus fame. “It’s a superb script,” he says. “But we are still looking for scripts that can star both of us again, and that has not happened.”<br /><br />Ajay Devgn Ffilms, his banner, is on an active spree, and Ajay admits that his next lot of films, whether from this banner or for outside production houses, are all based on fantastic scripts, like his second (after Vitti Dandu) Marathi co-production with Nana Patekar.<br /><br />But before that, we ask what are the positive and negative lessons, if any, that he has learnt from Shivaay? “Only that I should have just made a shorter film,” he says.<br /><br />Coming up next is T-Series’s Raid, based on a real story and set in the 80s. What about his recent predilection for period dramas, including Baadshaho that is set in the Emergency period, more than four decades back? “It is just that all these scripts have come to me now and are very exciting,” he says. “The period of Emergency is not what we are talking about in Baadshaho, it’s just that the story is based in that period. Similarly, I am making Tanaji on the legendary Maratha, Tanaji Malusare, so I cannot set it in today’s times. Battle Of Saragarhi is also set in the pre-Independence era. I know someone else has also announced a film on the subject, but I am in no hurry, they can go ahead. All period films need a certain amount of research, and that takes time.”<br /><br />There is also a biopic on the life of Amritsar-based engineer Jaswant Singh Gill. Says Ajay, “Gill is such a humble man. He has been awarded by the President, but no one knows of him. He had saved 65 miners trapped 150 metres down in a coal mine in West Bengal by designing a capsule, and now this technique is being used even by NASA. This too happened in 1989.”<br /><br />With all these passion-induced forays, how much is he affected or influenced by their box office prospects? “To an extent, box office has to be important as we must recover what we spend, but in the end, it is more about how much people like you and want you,” he says pragmatically.<br /><br />Date drama<br /><br />Of late, Ajay has also decided to get out of the time and date race. “I think we should complete films first and then wait for a few months to size up the correct release date,” he declares. “Otherwise, such pre-planning makes you run after a fixed release date at any cost by compromising on the content and presentation of a film.”<br /><br />However, Golmaal Again releases alongside Aamir Khan’s Secret Superstar on Diwali. Why have his movies so far always tended to clash with other big films, like Golmaal Returns, All The Best, Son Of Sardaar and Shivaay? “As I said, we decide on a date, and what others do is their prerogative. It is fine. Aamir Khan’s film is a modest-budgeted, small production that is not going to grab 3,000 screens. And Diwali is big enough to accommodate two good films. There will always be an audience that will want to watch both the movies.”<br /><br />Speaking of superstars, why are we no longer seeing combinations of them in a single film? We had multi-star films in the past and even Ajay has done Ishq with Aamir, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and London Dreams with Salman Khan and Khakee, Insan and Suhaag with Akshay Kumar. “I think it is mainly the budgets that come in the way,” he replies coolly. “We actors from the 90s are willing to work with each other — I do not know about today’s stars. In fact, Salman Khan and I have even discussed the possibility of a film that mixes Singham and Dabangg as franchises, as is done in the West.”</div>
<div align="justify">He has had a mixed run of late — Drishyam (2015) did average business, while Shivaay, which he also produced and directed last year, was appreciated for its technical finesse and action, entered the ‘100 crore club’, but was not exactly a blockbuster. Ajay Devgn, nevertheless, maintains his position as one of our six superstars, five of whom have completed over 25 years in the film industry.<br /><br />Ajay’s newest release is Baadshaho, his fourth with director Milan Luthria after Kachche Dhaage (1999) and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai (2010), besides the unsuccessful Chori Chori (2003). Emraan Hashmi (with whom he has done Once Upon… and Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji) is working with him again in this movie, and so is character artiste Sanjay Mishra, who has worked with Ajay in multiple films, including All The Best that Ajay had produced.<br /><br />Keeping it real<br /><br />But besides them, there are also Ileana D’Cruz, Vidyut Jammwal and Esha Gupta. And together, these six people comprise the ‘Baadshaho’, which means ‘The Emperors’, for each is someone special in this stylised drama. Of these three names, Ajay is especially fond of Vidyut. “It is always great fun when the guy with whom you are doing the action with is very good,” he explains. “Then the timing becomes great. Vidyut’s a very sweet boy,” he says.<br /><br />About the action, says Ajay, “We did not go in for the ‘one kick and 10 people fly’ kind of action. I must say that though, length-wise, there is not much of action, whatever is there is hard-hitting and realistic. Besides that, it is a story of relationships and drama.”<br /><br />With so much experience in the field, and the action-studded Shivaay behind him, did Ajay give any inputs for the action part? “If I suggest something, then I have to devise some idea for its execution too,” he replies, shaking his head. “The action here is not to show off, but it goes with the film.”<br /><br />But for the first time since Ajay’s and Milan’s first collaboration in Kachche Dhaage, we get the same feel from the Baadshaho trailer. The actor nods and says, “It is shot in Rajasthan and in the desert, like that film, so you will have the same feel. Baadshaho has a very Western-like vibe. All the ‘Baadshahos’ are very street-smart, and initially the audience has no clue about who is conning whom.”<br /><br />Ajay’s own character, named Bhavani, is smart, strong, but very emotional. This is also a film wherein every layer of a character unfolds gradually. What about the buzz that Milan decided to cut off a long sensual scene between Ileana and him? The actor wryly says, “All that is misinformation. Milan does not believe in such things forced in for the heck of it, but only if the script really demands it. Even Emraan Hashmi has no kiss in the film!”<br /><br />Speaking of kissing, what is his opinion of the new censor chief Prasoon Joshi, who had made his debut as a lyricist with Ajay’s Lajja? “He should be very good. However, I never had any problems with Pahlaj (Nihalani)ji,” he affirms.<br /><br />Coming to his wife Kajol, has he watched her VIP 2? “Not yet, yaar!” he rues. “I have just come back yesterday, but I plan to catch up now.”<br /><br />That brings us to the film he is producing for her, to be directed by Anand Gandhi of Ship Of Theseus fame. “It’s a superb script,” he says. “But we are still looking for scripts that can star both of us again, and that has not happened.”<br /><br />Ajay Devgn Ffilms, his banner, is on an active spree, and Ajay admits that his next lot of films, whether from this banner or for outside production houses, are all based on fantastic scripts, like his second (after Vitti Dandu) Marathi co-production with Nana Patekar.<br /><br />But before that, we ask what are the positive and negative lessons, if any, that he has learnt from Shivaay? “Only that I should have just made a shorter film,” he says.<br /><br />Coming up next is T-Series’s Raid, based on a real story and set in the 80s. What about his recent predilection for period dramas, including Baadshaho that is set in the Emergency period, more than four decades back? “It is just that all these scripts have come to me now and are very exciting,” he says. “The period of Emergency is not what we are talking about in Baadshaho, it’s just that the story is based in that period. Similarly, I am making Tanaji on the legendary Maratha, Tanaji Malusare, so I cannot set it in today’s times. Battle Of Saragarhi is also set in the pre-Independence era. I know someone else has also announced a film on the subject, but I am in no hurry, they can go ahead. All period films need a certain amount of research, and that takes time.”<br /><br />There is also a biopic on the life of Amritsar-based engineer Jaswant Singh Gill. Says Ajay, “Gill is such a humble man. He has been awarded by the President, but no one knows of him. He had saved 65 miners trapped 150 metres down in a coal mine in West Bengal by designing a capsule, and now this technique is being used even by NASA. This too happened in 1989.”<br /><br />With all these passion-induced forays, how much is he affected or influenced by their box office prospects? “To an extent, box office has to be important as we must recover what we spend, but in the end, it is more about how much people like you and want you,” he says pragmatically.<br /><br />Date drama<br /><br />Of late, Ajay has also decided to get out of the time and date race. “I think we should complete films first and then wait for a few months to size up the correct release date,” he declares. “Otherwise, such pre-planning makes you run after a fixed release date at any cost by compromising on the content and presentation of a film.”<br /><br />However, Golmaal Again releases alongside Aamir Khan’s Secret Superstar on Diwali. Why have his movies so far always tended to clash with other big films, like Golmaal Returns, All The Best, Son Of Sardaar and Shivaay? “As I said, we decide on a date, and what others do is their prerogative. It is fine. Aamir Khan’s film is a modest-budgeted, small production that is not going to grab 3,000 screens. And Diwali is big enough to accommodate two good films. There will always be an audience that will want to watch both the movies.”<br /><br />Speaking of superstars, why are we no longer seeing combinations of them in a single film? We had multi-star films in the past and even Ajay has done Ishq with Aamir, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and London Dreams with Salman Khan and Khakee, Insan and Suhaag with Akshay Kumar. “I think it is mainly the budgets that come in the way,” he replies coolly. “We actors from the 90s are willing to work with each other — I do not know about today’s stars. In fact, Salman Khan and I have even discussed the possibility of a film that mixes Singham and Dabangg as franchises, as is done in the West.”</div>
