‘My generation of stars lucky to have loyal fans’

To enjoy continued success and stardom for over 25 years is no easy task, and Ajay Devgn says his generation of actors was lucky to have a dedicated fan following, which is a rarity today.

The ’90s was dominated by icons like Ajay, the three Khans — Shah Rukh, Salman, Aamir — and Akshay Kumar who continue to be on the top.

In a media interaction, Ajay said, “We were very lucky because when we had started work, the kind of fan following we got at that time, they were very loyal fans. Till today they watch our films.” The new generation of movie-goers, says Ajay, has become “smart and sensible”, as they go by the content. “They will decide if the film is good or not, it won’t matter who is in the film.”

The 48-year-old actor has been on a golden run with his back-to-back releases Baadshaho and Golmaal Again doing well at the box office. Ajay, however, said there was never a phase in his career where he felt lost.

“Everybody goes through a phase when films don’t do well but someone analysed it for me that in my whole career, except for a year or two, there has never been a year when I didn’t have a hit. May be if there are two or three flops, there has always been a hit. I’ve luckily never had a phase where I was struggling,” he added

Ajay now awaits the release of his film, Raid, which is set against the backdrop of the 1980s and features him as an Income Tax officer hailing from Uttar Pradesh. “I like rotating my genres — Golmaal now Raid, then a romcom and then Dhamaal... It’s about me enjoying my work and not getting repetitive and bored,” he said.

The new generation who is watching films, they have become very sensible, smart and intelligent. They go by the content, film to film. They will decide if the film is good or not, it won’t matter who is in the film. AJAY DEVGN, ACTOR