Unlike his contemporaries, Ajay Devgn doesn’t believe in marketing himself. He talks to Shrabasti Mallik about his versatility as an actor and why censorship needs to be re-examined
Thanks to aggressive marketing initiatives, Ajay Devgn looked exhausted when he landed here but staying true to his effervescent spirit, he managed to pull the strings. The Action Jackson star has now become a hitmaker with series of successful movies. When he was reminded of his successful career of over two decades, he said, “I did not even realise how 23 years of my career passed because I have been busy working. I have been lucky not to come across a low phase in my career.”
The actor, who prefers doing his action scenes himself feels that the entire technology of the action industry has changed. “Doing action has become a lot safer than what it was earlier. Now there are many props. We survived without them and still practise the same. Things have become a lot easier now,” he pointed out. He, however, believes that the new generation of actors has stepped into the industry much more prepared than his generation. “We learnt over the years but they are professional right from the start. We learnt through a lot of mistakes and we used to be very emotional. We did movies (which ultimately did not work) just because the director was a friend, which new actors do not do today. I believe that it is really good,” he said.
Devgn may flaunt a sculpted body but insists on a healthy routine. He said that the youth should strive for a fit body. He said, “Six and eight packs lower the immunity to a great extent and make a person very weak. To survive, there should be a fitness regime.” He himself does a lot of strength training. “I believe strength is very important and that automatically gives shape to the body. That is why I concentrate on my strength,” he said.
Devgn was once known as a rebel. “I was very rebellious in my 20s but not in the way that I needed to prove a point. I remained like this and knocked out quite a number of people back then. In some way I am still rebellious,” he said. He added that it is because he does not follow the norms of the industry and does things his way. “People have often told me to promote myself but I am not very comfortable with that, so I do not do it,” he said.
The actor might have developed image of an action hero but he has proved his versatility with movies like Gangaajal, Golmaal series and Once Upon a Time in Mumbai. “I don’t take up scripts based on the genre; I pick up the scripts which I like. It is pure coincidence that movies like Gangaajal and Golmaal series came in between action movies. I feel really blessed that people have loved and appreciated my performances both as a gangster and as a cop,” he said.
He has been part of several big-budgeted movies but he believes that Bollywood needs to shed more money in filmmaking. “If budgets are improved, we can match the caliber of Hollywood. They have a huge budget while we have a restrained one, which is growing, undoubtedly. So we are reaching that stage gradually and are already better than what we were a few years ago,” he said.
He also batted for the upgradation of Censor Board. He said, “The Censor Board does not trouble me because I do not believe in vulgar films, nudity and gory action. In fact, kids love our action more than anybody else. Even if someone is being attacked by a sword, no blood is shown which is intentional. But censorship is important. There are some issues which are censored in movies but are aired on TV and other media. There they show evil but not their consequences, which we show in our movies. We believe that if you do not show the bad, how will you show the goodIJ There should be a balance.”
When asked about his next venture with Kajol, he said, “Kajol and I do not have a good script now. But if we get a story and if it suits both of us then we can go ahead with it. I will be starting a movie with her which will go on floors next year, which I will produce.”