When you have delivered two back-to-back films which have earned Rs. 100 crores, a certain kind of arrogance is bound to creep in. You can get away with a lot of golmaal . As one approaches director Rohit Shetty, he asks, “Why don’t you repeat the Singham interview?” It is a kind of practical joke because in terms of treatment it is hard to distinguish any one film of his from another, and he knows it. He has indeed come a long way from (or is it off!) Zameen , the last time he joined hands with Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan.
Ajay is his usual sincere self, who finds challenges even in roles that seem a cakewalk. He describes his character as a combination of those in Singham and the Golmaal series. “He is tough, emotional and, I won’t say dumb, but very simple and funny. The effort is to make it relatable. The humour is not slapstick but situational.”
He says the film is inspired by Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Golmaal but the characters and their attitudes have been changed completely. Then why buy the rights? “I think it is only ethical to buy rights of something that has inspired you. Mukherjee was a great director and had made some tremendous films and if people like us who are in the industry for so many years won’t give him credit then how can we expect the future generations to remember him?”
Ajay, who was recently at the Chandigram Akhara in Delhi to promote the film, plays a character who enjoys wrestling and loves to translate Hindi proverbs into his broken English. “I used to wrestle with the boys I trained with. It was more out of fun but I know the basic moves. More than a sport I see it is as a way to stay fit. It is rustic and gives a feel of manhood.”
As for the translation part, he gives credit to the writers for coming up with some whacky twists. “My favourite is when elders get cosy, youngers don’t get nosy for the saying Jab bade baat karte hain to chhote beech main nahin bolte .”
The business is fine, but it is coming at the cost of repeating himself. Ajay disagrees. “I ensure that within the framework, I have something new to offer. After doing Company , when I was offered Once Upon A Time In Mumbai , I was confused about how I would be able to do something different in a zone where I had already delivered my best. But it turned out to be a fresh take and was appreciated. I will keep switching genres.”
Suddenly Abhishek Bachchan enters and Ajay asks him how is he feeling and Abhishek declares he is panicking. “You are master of this game, for me it is a first,” he reasons. An honest comment? “Not really. He watched the film last night and is very happy. He is just trying to hide it,” Ajay avers. Was there any attempt to outdo each other on the sets? “Two films can compete against each other. How can two characters of one film compete against each other? In fact, I was goading Abhishek all the time to do better. Ye acchha kar, ye aise kar . He has his own style and it took him a day or two to come to our zone.”
Over to Abhishek, whose turn as a guy aware of his feminine side is getting noticed in the promos. How did he get the limp in the wrist right? “There was a process to it. We had made a character sketch of Abbas and Rohit and I started prepping six months before the shoot,” says Abhishek. Did he follow any real life person? “Actually I did. We made the sketch and got the dialogues but I was not getting how to present the Kathak dancer. When we were shooting there was spot boy on the sets called Raja and I actually fashioned it on him.”
The critics keep panning him for not getting under the skin of the character. “I don’t mind it because as an actor my job is to convince the audience and critics are part of the audience. I don’t see it as them having a personal agenda against me. At times they offer invaluable opinion for free.” But when a film earns Rs. 100 crores, do critics become redundant? “I think if out of the millions that watch a film, even if one person doesn’t like my film, I should work harder to convince that person.” Does he feel cornered at times when people criticise his acting ability? “Why should I feel cornered? I take it positively as a reason to work harder. I always give critics a lot of credit for making me the actor that I am.” Ajay was right, he seems really happy!
