Watching, waiting, choosing...

`Deep inside I too am a liberal person though all of us do have some bit of male chauvinism within....'

``I am not a very ambitious man and am content with what I have. At the end of the day, what I am looking for in my films is satisfaction,'' says Ajay Devgan, actor-producer, who with his latest release ``Lajja'' has joined the list of actors who have become very choosy and are looking for variety in the roles they play.

With his home production ``Raju Chacha'' bombing at the box office earlier this year, Ajay is now adopting a watch and wait policy when it comes to producing films. ``Sometimes a good film does not do well at the box office. It is very difficult to predict audience response,'' he says.

Here in the Capital this past week for the premiere of ``Lajja'' in which he is a naxalite, Ajay says he finds nothing wrong in playing the role of an anti-hero. ``When director Raj Kumar Santoshi narrated the script to me, he was so clear about the role he had in mind for me that all I had to do was to just go and play it out in the film,'' he says.

In order to avoid being bracketted as an ``action hero'', Ajay says he has consciously been selecting a combination of hard and soft roles. ``I have played the romantic in films like `Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha' and `Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'. But then there have been other films in which I have played the action hero. Even in `Lajja,' I have a hard-hitting role,'' he says, adding: ``Audiences like a good film, whether it is action, romance or comedy.''

While Ajay is confident that ``Lajja'' would do well, he does not have such hope about ``Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke'', his other major release of the year. ``I can identify myself with Bulwa of `Lajja' who is a kind of rebel and revolts against the system. Yet, he has tremendous respect for women,'' Ajay says. ``Deep inside, I too am a very liberal person, though all of us do have some kind of male chauvinism within.''

Interestingly, Ajay speaks Awadhi in the film. ``In the beginning, it was difficult as I had to learn the language,'' he admits. ``But then I could adjust myself to it,'' he chuckles, adding: ``If the film works, it will not be just due to my character''.

Well aware of the fact that the role of ``Bulwa'' in ``Lajja'' was first offered to Sunny Deol, Ajay has no qualms in admitting that there have been many other offers which he had rejected in the past -- films which went on to become superhits. ``I do not regret such things at all,'' he says, adding: ``Actually, I have become very selective and, therefore, look for different kinds of roles''.

Immediately after ``Lajja'', Ajay will be seen in Mahesh Manjrekar's ``Tera Mera Saath Rahe''. ``This is not a hard- hitting role. It is a tale of two brothers -- the touching story of a spastic and his brother, which is played by me,'' the producer-actor informs.

Another film which Ajay is looking forward to is Ram Gopal Verma's ``Company'' in which he again plays an underworld don. ``This again is an action-oriented film on the lines of Satya. The film is almost complete,'' says the hero, who is also not averse to doing parallel cinema. ``I have done a couple of films including Govind Nihalani's `Takshak'. ''

Ajay and his wife, Kajol, will not be seen together in films for quite a while. ``We have not signed any film together,'' he admits. They plan to launch a new television serial through the software production house they have jointly set up.

What about producing films? ``Well, you will hear about it soon,'' he says.

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