"I took off my shirt so people think that's hot" : Ajay

By: Upala KBR, Mid-Day
Monday, September 03, 2007

When Ajay Devgan talks, people listen. That"s because he doesn"t talk much to begin with!

The actor"s been directing his debut film U, Me Aur Hum the last couple of months (he"s also acting and producing it) and looks tired.

In an exclusive chat, Ajay reveals what went wrong with Anubhav Sinha"s Cash and his steamy number in Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag.

Yes, and I"m very excited. However, I feel it shouldn"t be compared to Ramesh Sippy"s Sholay, which is a landmark film. RGV"s Aag is a completely different genre, has a different attitude, technique and language.

My character Hero is a small-time guy who wants to make money but in the right way. I love the shades the character has — he has a sense of humour, likes to woo women — it"s a role that gave me a lot of scope to act.

Were you awkward while doing that steamy song with Nisha Kothari?
No. I had no reason to feel awkward because I don"t consider it a steamy number. I took off my shirt so people think that"s hot, but for me it was a song that Ramu wanted me to do. I trust him as a director completely. We get along well and I enjoy working with him.

So what happened with Cash?
To me, the film was incomplete, but the director (Anubhav Sinha) thought otherwise. Going by the box office reports, I guess the audience decided it was incomplete too. I haven"t seen Cash. If I were the distributor, I would have sued the people who knowingly sold me an imperfect film at such a high price.Why did you do such a bad film?
Firstly, I did it for Sohail Maklai (co-producer). I liked the first draft of the script, the concept and treatment, but then things started going wrong. There were issues with the producers and the director. There was a lot of work left in the climax. Animation wasn"t part of the original script but was added to the end to complete the film. Everything was completed with haste and it shows.

But you refused to shoot a song and were called unprofessional by Sinha.
I am not unprofessional. If I were, I wouldn"t have completed the dubbing for Cash. I"ve been in this industry for 15 years and not one producer has said I"m unprofessional. Anubhav added three extra songs without my knowledge and wanted me to shoot for it. I wasn"t supporting anybody but the law. When they asked me to shoot for Hey Chori, I told them the matter was in court and I would shoot for whoever got the film"s rights. They didn"t wait and went ahead and shot it without me.

Are you keeping the title U Me Aur Hum?
Yes. I finish shooting the last schedule by the end of September. Contrary to reports, it"s not a remake of The Notebook. When people see the film they will figure out the truth.

What"s next?
There"s Raj Kumar Santoshi"s Halla Bol, Rohit Shetty"s Golmaal 2 and Sunday and of course, U Me Aur Hum.