Ajay Devgan: It rained one night
by: Praveena Bharadwaj
- filmfare.com
“You know, people think I’m very intimidating,” intones Ajay Devgan, looking up at me over his cigarette. Pauses. Blows a nonchalant whiff of smoke. Then smiles, “But the character I play in Raincoat is a total contrast to what I really am. He’s very unsure and quiet. I’ve never attempted such a character before and I’m sure the audience will notice that. To be honest, it took me a little extra time and effort to get into the mind of this character.” We hear director Rituparno Ghosh was a little worried about your confident body language to begin with, I remark. “Yes,” he grins. “Ritu kept telling me to curb it and we finally settled on a certain level.”
It’s not often that I hear Ajay get so voluble about his characters, so I’m intrigued. Tell me about Raincoat, I press. “The characters are very mysterious but it’s not a murder mystery or anything of that sort. It’s a mysterious kind of love story with deep emotions that touch your heart. The film is certain to move you,” responds Ajay. That’s high praise coming from someone who’s never been known to make tall claims about his films or even talk much about them because Ajay prefers to wait for the audience to react. But here he is, all excited about director Rituparno Ghosh’s story about two lovers reunited after a long separation.
“When Ritu narrated the script to me over the phone, I loved it and said yes immediately,” he recalls. “He’d called me once before, for another movie, but I’d refused it because I didn’t like the story. So it’s great to work with him finally.”
His co-star in the movie is Aishwarya Rai, a Rituparno favourite who’s done the much-acclaimed Chokher Bali with the director earlier. “I haven’t seen Chokher Bali , but I can truly say that Ash has done a fantastic job in Raincoat, ” says Ajay.
Ajay has also given the nod to one of his favourite directors—Rajkumar Santoshi— for his film on Prithviraj Chauhan . This will be the first time he’ll attempt a costume drama, I remark. “Correction. The Legend of Bhagat Singh, as a period film, was also a costume drama to an extent. So Prithviraj is really my second,” he argues. Then adds, “Of course one has read all about Prithviraj Chauhan in history books at school. But what Rajji narrated to me was a totally new angle to the story. He’s picked it up from the history books so the authenticity can’t be questioned. It’s an amazing script and I can’t wait to start the film.”
