Up, close and CANDID!
Ajay Devgn shares his takes on doing guest appearance and the making of pan India films
Ajay Devgn recently made headlines when he commented on South superstar Kichcha Sudeepa’s comment on Hindi not being the national language. Though the controversy isn’t yet settled, Ajay is busy carrying out his professional commitments.
The actor recently made guest appearances in two films, Gangubai Kathiawadi and RRR. However, in the limited screen time that he had in the film, Ajay managed to make his presence felt with powerful performances. But for Ajay, doing guest appearances isn’t a big deal. Rather, the actor feels, at times, smaller roles can even overshadow the lead. “If I enjoy that character and feel like doing it I opt for even guest roles. I have no issues with that. I never prepare for any of my guest appearances. Mostly, directors approach me with strong characters, even if they are guest roles,” Ajay shares.
Not one to mince words, Ajay is quick to point to the West and Hollywood superstars not shying away from taking up smaller roles. “Hollywood actors are always ready to make guest appearances in films. I fail to understand why actors here [Bollywood] avoid doing guest roles. According to me, small roles can outshine lead roles at times. So, why shouldn’t I do such roles,” Ajay says.
Ajay does not believe in stardom and clarifies that he never allows it to overshadow his persona. “I have never tried to maintain my stardom. I only opine that if we don’t do good work we will be outdated. There is no heroism but one needs to have confidence, which is important to present yourself on screen. I feel this is missing in the scripts these days. You asked me about my swag, it's inborn. I have not worked on it. And luckily for me, it translated on screen naturally,” the actor adds.
For the past few years, there’s been a trend of ‘pan India’ movies. But, Ajay says such movies are not planned, they just happen. “Pan Indian films cannot be planned, they happen after their release. It will not be possible for me to divulge how these films connect with the audiences. Baahubali was not planned by Rajamouli sir as a pan-India film, but it turned out to be one after its success at the box office. KGF also wasn’t made keeping this in mind either,” Ajay says.