‘I TRY TO DIRECT FILMS THAT AREN’T EASY TO MAKE
Ajay Devgn explains why his directorial outings are far and few
Actor-filmmaker Ajay Devgn’s Runway 34 marks his third directorial venture after U Me Aur Hum (2008) and Shivaay (2016). Though he has been acting in films quite frequently, his directorial outings have been far and few. He attributes the long gaps to being extremely selective about them. “I always try to direct films that aren’t easy to make, technically, be it Shivaay or Runway 34. I like movies that challenge me during the making.
If there’s a story that inspires me so much that I feel like telling it myself, I direct it. Otherwise, there’s no point,” he says.
Going forward, Devgn wants to try his hand at different subjects. “I would like to try different things and someday, direct a very small film, too. I think ‘Ajay Devgn’ doesn’t only mean big films,” he explains.
Besides being his directorial, Runway 34 also sees Devgn play the lead, Captain Vikrant Khanna, in it. Quiz him if the director and actor in him ever came in conflict while filming, and the 53-year-old says, “It happened very rarely. As an actor, I grasp a character depending on what I am thinking as a director. So, it organically works in favour for the actor in me, too.”
What makes the thriller even more special for him is that he got a chance to direct actor Amitabh Bachchan in it. But the latter’s stature or stardom never came in the way of directing him or giving him inputs, reveals Devgn. “I’ve known him ever since I was a child. We have worked together on many films and we share a great rapport. Our equation is such that I can tell him anything that I want to and he doesn’t mind it. We are very comfortable with each other,” ends Devgn.