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A passion for action

Suparn Verma

When you first shake hands with a guy who has made a rep as Bollywood's action hero, the it surprises you that his hands are very soft and gentle.

We met him on the set of Indra Kumar's Ishq, in a temple situated high up in the mountainous terrain surrounding Bombay's Filmcity . The entire starcast, compromising of Ajay, Aamir Khan, Kajol and Juhi Chawla was present and ready to roll.

While Indra Kumar was busy instructing his assistants, Aamir and Ajay(left) cajoled one of the assistants to smuggle them a packet of itching powder. Ajay does the smuggling with the panache of a professional, slipping the pack into Aamir's hands while the latter kept Dalip Tahil engrossed in conversation.

Using a momentary distraction, Aamir slips behind Dalip and dusts him with the powder.

Sure enough, in just a few moments, Dalip begins scratching away at the back of his neck "I think something bit me," he says.

"Must be a mosquito," says Aamir with total seriousness, before the whole group cracks up, laughing.

Just another average day on a Bollywood set, folks...

Some hours later, Ajay gets time out to talk to us - and his first subject, of course, is the film he is doing."It is a romantic film, but also a flat out comedy with all four of us playing light-hearted characters. I guess, for me, it is a first, there are almost no action sequences and I have never really done a light romance before."

Ask him about Aamir's famed intensity and how it is working with him, and Ajay is all smiles."It's fun working with Aamir," he says, laughing as he scratches the back of his hand."We have no ego hassles, whether in front of the camera or away from it."

Ajay, interestingly, has added another string to his bow in recent months, moving from actor-distributor to producer when he launched two films under his own banner -- Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha and Hindustan Ki Kasam, the latter to mark his father stunt composer Veeru Devgan's debut as a director. And yes, Ajay admits that these new ventures have in turn impacted on his screen career.

"Actually, after turning producer I have cut down on my acting commitments, I don't do more than three films at a time. By getting into distribution and production, I am actually widening my base. It gets tiring, doing the same thing everyday," muses the star."Today I divide my day between being actor, producer and distributor, and the monotony is broken. And remember," he adds,"I didn't always dream of being an actor - I started out as an assistant director, so doing things away from the camera is natural for me."

In keeping with the current trend, Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha is based on the Hollywood hit French Kiss."We have used the basic idea of that film," admits Ajay, "but it accounts for only half the film, it has been Indianised and made into a three-hour film. Today I'm working with a lot of new writers, they come up with new ideas - but you see, there is very little that can be entirely original. Abroad, they have covered pretty much all subjects, explored every possibility, every twist. So similarities between ideas you have and those filmed abroad are quite possible. I liked the subject of French Kiss, I was fed up of doing the same subjects and wanted to do something different."

Does all this signal a shift in his personal image, from action hero to a lighter, more romantic sort of persona? "I don't want to stick to just one image," he responds.

"You get an image after you act in a film, but it is not necessary that you last long because of that image. You can't say what will click and what will not - I mean, our best actor, Kamal Hassan, doesn't draw crowds in the north. So what you do is keep trying new things, and keep in mind that basically, if the film is good and tells its story well, it will work."

Interestingly, Ajay will be competing with Govinda on this one - Dil Diwana Na Mane, with the latter in the lead, is also on the floors and will hit the marquee around the same time. Ajay, who will for the first time be risking his own money in a film, doesn't seem too fazed by the fact, though."If somebody had started on a remake of French Kiss before I announced my own film, I would have dropped my subject. If someone else starts after me, what am I to do? In the industry, you do need some ethics - if one film does well, then thousands get work and money comes back to the industry. I guess the bottomline is, if there are two versions, then the better one will click."

Ajay seems equally gung-ho about his other project, and in fact is positively voluble when he begins talking about it."Hindustan Ki Kasam is a very big budget film, we haven't even given it a figure yet because we know it will go haywire anyway," Ajay smiles."We are going all out for it. Actually, it is more correct to say my dad is producing this - it is his hard work and goodwill in the industry that has made it possible. And yes, Mr Amitabh Bachchan will be acting in it."

Talking to Devgan and not asking him about his action sequences - and his penchant, like that of Sunil Shetty, Akshay Kumar and others, to do his own stunts, get injured in the process and halt expensive productions while he recovers - is like talking to Einstein and not mentioning relativity."We take all possible safety and precautions," responds Ajay, "but yes, accidents do happen. Then again, they happen to everyone, even stuntmen. I'll agree with you, though, that we shouldn't do stunts that are too risky, we know that now, we have learnt our lesson."

Pulling up his sleeve, he removes a nylon strap and exposes a scarred wrist with the stitches still raw."Now this happened at home, I wasn't even shooting or performing a dangerous stunt or whatever," he laughs.

So how many injuries has he collected, as old time gunfighters collect notches on their guns?" To date" he mulls over his third cigarette "well, it's a bit difficult to pinpoint how many, my ankle has been broken twice, my hip bone, all my ribs, practically very bone in my body has been broken." He pauses a moment and, seeing your wondering look, adds,"I don't see the risk, I enjoy performing stunts, and I don't get scared."

Celebrity management companies have become the norm these days, with Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd taking the lead in signing up Aamir Khan and Sunil Shetty to manage their modelling careers. Does Ajay have any plans of having a company handle his career? "I had been approached for it, but I don't think it will work, I'm not talking about any particular company but about the concept in general. See, even if it works it will take a lot of time to succeed in India. First of all not many people will go for it, I mean who wants to be controlled, tell me why someone with a name of his own should be controlled by someone else?"

Ajay ranks among the youngest distributors on the scene today, and he has his own notions about how that side of the industry works."The first film I distributed was Drohkaal," he recalls."I didn't distribute it in Bombay , I released it in Central India and I broke even. I didn't do it for a learning experience. In that sense, I think Diljale was my first film as a distributor, I was lucky to release it in Bombay, the whole of Maharashtra, also the Nizam and Konkan territories. Earlier, I used to charge territories instead of my fees as an actor, but I realised it was better to keep the two apart. Now, I take my fees in cash, for acting, and keep the distribution thing separate."

A question that has fuelled enormous debate in recent times is the one relating to escalating star prices - and Devgan is right up there in the top bracket, so doesn't he feel that this overpricing is one reason for the slump in the industry? "To make a film and to sell it to the distributors you need a name," the star counters."And you get money from distributors depending on which name you have signed up. So it is fair enough that you are paying me what I ask for, because it is my name you are using to sell the film. If the producer gives me a guarantee that he will sell the film at a lower price to the distributors, fair enough, then I will charge less!

"If the film does not do well," Ajay says, flipping the argument around and showing another side of it,"and the distributor loses money, it is adjusted at a future date, maybe in the next film of the concerned film. And if the distributor earns over 30% after recovering his money, it is called an overflow, and that overflow amount is divided down the middle, between producer and distributor. A film that does not get over 30% profit, but gets the distributor his money back, is called a commission earner.

"See," he points out, his distributor-hat firmly on his head now,"every film makes money. There are two types of films - one made by the big-time producers, the other is low budget stuff made by some producers who make films for the heck of it, they complete their films for small amounts, sell it at low costs with almost no publicity. Funny thing is, these films actually do make a profit, might be as low as five million but if you make two such films in a year you have made ten million which isn't too bad. So the money does come back into the industry, eventually."

While on trends, violence is another one which has been up for debate in recent times - on screen violence, and its potential to infect young people with ideas of emulation."Its a vicious cycle," says Ajay."Where do we get our ideas from? From what is actually happening in society. And then, society says it gets its ideas from our films. Look, in the fifties and sixties, we had family dramas, before that there were the themes based on the freedom struggle, we had the overbearing zamindars then we graduated to smuggling as a theme that it turn moved from gold to drugs to weapons then came corrupt government officials and politicians

"What does that tell you? Simply that we are mirroring the trends in society, at any given time smuggling was an issue in the seventies, corruption is an issue today, and we faithfully reflect those issues. The difference being that in films, unlike in life, good does always win over evil in the end.

"In the South, it is different, they have a audience that is literate," Ajay continues."The literacy rate in the South is 90%. The film-makers in the South have a conditioned audience. For Hindi films, our audiences are all over the country, and the literacy rate in most parts up north is considerably lower. I mean, even our comedy cannot be subtle because of this, as subtle comedy will go over the heads of our audience. Which is why everything - our stories, our comedy tracks, our romances and even the violence in our films, is overstated."

And here we were, I think to myself after that lengthy speech, imagining that he was a strong, silent type!

Interestingly, Ajay Devgan - who is as 'commercial' an actor as they come - is actually working on the next project of 'art' director Govind Nihalani, whose Drohkaal he had distributed. But the star refuses to accept the term 'art' film, even as he says this does not indicate any change of tack on his part.

"I'm doing a film with Govind Nihalani, period," he says firmly."I don't understand the term 'art film' - we are making a film, that is it. Maybe some others, who don't have confidence in themselves, call their films 'art', in order to offer in advance an excuse in case the audience rejects it. As far as I know, if you take your time, write a good script and make a good film, then give the audience time, they will accept it."

A favourite trick with journos is to leave possibly contentious questions to the very end - and it is a trick I adopt as well. Having got his views on the state of the industry, his own films, future plans and the like, I edge into the dicey one as he lights yet another cigarette: why, I ask him, does he have this rep of being at odds with every single one of his heroines - Raveena, Manisha, Karishma, whoever?

" I get along with all my heroines except one," he says, without naming that odd woman out,"but I don't want to talk about it now!"

Of course, it is no secret that Raveena is the bete noire he was reluctant to name, so I prod him a bit more, and he goes, "Yeah, it is Raveena I'm talking about. But it is all in the past now. And yes, the two of us will be completing Shaktishaali, I'm a professional and so is she. So our personal differences won't get in the way of completing the film."

Indra Kumar's voice, magnified by the loud hailer, summons his stars back on the set and Ajay gets up, signs an autograph book thrust at him by a fan, and muses, eyes quickly taking in the set,"This job is not easy. I mean, look at the place we are right now, we are shooting in the harsh sun. We have to shoot in the rain, day or night doesn't matter, we don't sit in air-conditioned rooms all the time as people seem to think, we are forever surrounded by people, we can only dream of privacy, you can't trust anyone... But the name, the fame, the money - all this makes it worth the while!"

Smiling, he drifts away...

A while later, Indra Kumar's voice calls"Action!"

And Ajay Devgan performs on that cue - one, you realise as you look back at his films to date, that could have been created just for him...

Photographs: Pradeep Bandekar