Ajay Devgn on his frequenttrips to Gujarat, the math ofmaking masala potboilers andmore in an interview.Gujarat seems to be a must inyour itinerary of promotingfilms.I have business commitmentshere and that brings me to thestate often. And all my filmswork in here, so why not?I washere sometime back to meetMr Narendra Modi to attendhis hangout session. If hebecomes the next PM, then thecountry will benefit from hisexpertise and good administration.I am looking at the biggerpicture here.You have been doing a lot oftypical masala potboilersrecently.
Don’t you feel youcould do something different,like Akshay Kumar did inSpecial 26?Let me tell you, I was offeredSpecial 26, but I didn’t do itbecause the film had its ownlimitations. It worked alright,but only for a certain group ofaudiences. On the other hand,I cater to the masses and notjust a certain section of theaudience. My films are aboutentertaining the entire family.You mean that films like Son ofSardaar only can entertain andearn money?
How would youexplain the success of filmslike 3 Idiots or Barfi?It’s not only about the masalapotboilers. I was the amongstthe first ones to experimentwith different genres of makingfilms. I won two NationalAwards for Zakhm and TheLegend of Bhagat Singh. But,of late I haven’t come across ascript that will excite meenough to venture into somethingdifferent. Sometimes, bigstars like me become a liabilityfor small budget films andthat’s why I stick to doing bigbudget films.
I only want myfilms make the audience forgettheir worries and give themvalue for their money. But havingsaid that, I am doing a filmlike Satyagraha as well.You seem to be promotingSonakshi Sinha’s career?I am not promoting anyone.However, I do feel thatSonakshi is a good actress.After watching her on screenfor the first time itself I couldmake out that she’d do well.There were rumours of analleged affair with KanganaRanaut floating around sometimeback.
Your comment.Kangana is just a co-actor. Andthis is something so trivial thatthe rumours died down immediately.In fact Kangana filed aPIL as well against the publicationthat wrote about it. Myfamily and friends did notbother about it at all, so I didn’teven remember this.You seem to be comfortableworking with AmitabhBachchan but not with starslike Salman Khan or ShahRukh Khan.Currently, I am doing only onefilm with Amitabh Bachchan.
Salman is a friend and I don’tmind working with him, but Ihaven’t been offered any filmwith him recently. As far asShah Rukh is concerned, he isjust an acquaintance. I need tobe comfortable on the setswhen I am working. I prefer towork in peace without the fearof getting manipulated, notthat any star has tried tomanipulate me, but I work withpeople I am comfortable with.Besides, if the film has two bigstars, it unnecessarily goes intobig budgets.
