100th Film Or First, Anxiety Remains The Same: Ajay Devgn

Actor Ajay Devgn, who has scored a century in Bollywood with his latest venture ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’, said it is best to remove the two zeros after one as his 100th film gives him the same anxiety as his first. Devgn, who is playing the titular role in the film, said there are many warriors lost in the pages of history and it was important to tell their stories to the world.

“We had probably read just two paragraphs about Tanhaji Malusare in history books. I am sure many in Bengal do not know about him. That is why the tag ‘unsung warrior’ is a part of the film’s title,” he told reporters at a press conference. ‘Tanhaji’, the 50-year-old actor said, was just the beginning of a series of many more such biopics on other unsung heroes of the country that he would want to make.

Asked about his experience of working with Saif Ali Khan, who his playing his bete noire Uday Bhan in the film, Devgn said he could not have thought of a better actor to fit in the role. “We two got along really well during the shooting of ‘Kachche Dhaage’ and ‘Omkara’. I wish we did more films together.”

Talking about wife Kajol, who is paired opposite him in the film, the two-time national award winner said, “It felt like home”. The actor, while speaking about the preparation that went into the film, said, “It was important to understand the mindset of a warrior before playing him on screen. You need to have the psyche... that’s tough.”

On a question about the recent threat by a politician, who claimed that Devgn’s latest outing distorted history, the actor said it was wrong to make such comments without seeing the film. He also said that certain events have to be dramatised while making a film. “You might know two significant incidents about his life, but how do you move from that one incident to the other? Not everything is written.

You have to dramatise it a bit,” he said. Devgn, who has been in the industry for nearly 30 years, said he loves coming back to Kolkata, where he had shot two of his critically-acclaimed films ‘Yuva’ and ‘Raincoat’. “I am here for the past four days and I must have gained 4 kg, relishing the sweets here,” he quipped.

Asked to describe his 100-film journey in one word, he said—“satisfying”. ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’ is set to hit the theatres on January 10. Apart from this, Ajay also said that his journey is incomplete with Rohit Shetty who had initially started working as an assistant on his films.

Right from his directorial debut in 2003 with "Zameen" to the "Golmaal" and "Singham" film series, Ajay has been a part of Rohit's career. "I don't take pride in anyone, anything except Rohit... The way he started and look where he has reached today because of his hard work and dedication," the actor said.

Ajay said it was his dream to make a big Hollywood-like spectacle film. "When we used to watch and discuss Hollywood films, we would wonder why we do not have such technology. We had dreamt to make a film that will stand on par with them and tell them, 'Look the budget of our films is half of what you make but our quality is same'.

We have technicians and if in this budget we can make something like this, it is good. Earlier we did not have the technology, but we have that today." When asked about probable parallels with S S Rajamouli's epic drama franchise "Baahubali", Ajay said he wouldn't want to compare the film with any other project.

"Our film is different, and it has a different story. Today we see a lot of good films being made and even we are trying to make a good film. I would not want to compare it with any other film."

(With inputs from PTI)