Bollywood’s mystery man
Sitesh Debnath

IF the failure of ‘Raju Chacha’ is giving Ajay Devgan sleepless nights, he is doing a pretty good job of not showing it. This was his first film as producer. Ajay shared the lead with wife Kajol and had invested a phenomenal Rs 30 crore in the film.

What went wrong?

Clearly Ajay has no clue: "Everything from the script and the music to the performances and the sets was done on a grand scale. We had spared no costs in its making and the production values clearly show on the screen... It’s the most ambitious film ever made in Indian cinema."

The outburst is unusual for a man known to be extremely reticent and not exactly friendly. At the same time he is seen as a hero without hassles, a well-disciplined professional, one who doesn’t throw temper tantrums, doesn’t misbehave in public and doesn’t suck up to the media. He is verily Bombay’s mystery man.

Obviously the debacle of his "pet project" has touched a raw nerve. He could take the failure of earlier starrers like ‘Deewane’, ‘Dil Kya Kare’, ‘Hindustan Ki Kasam’ and ‘Zakhm’ in his stride and as always, was as cool as a cucumber. For once, Ajay Devgan has now become emotional.

"At one point, during the making of ‘Raju Chacha’, I became a political scapegoat," he narrates. "I was not allowed to shoot in Ooty, despite the fact I had already constructed a Rs-5-crore set and my unit of over 100 people had already reached the location."

Shooting commenced a good two months later, but not before Ajay had petitioned the High Court. By then, he had spent another Rs 3 crore on feeding and housing his cast and crew. "I couldn’t afford to dismantle the sets," he says. "It was frustrating but I just tried to keep my calm."

Barring that incident, making ‘Raju Chacha’ was an "experience of love" for Ajay who was working with Kajol for the fourth time — after ‘Hulchul’, ‘Pyar To Hona Hi Tha’ and ‘Dil Kya Kare’. Will there be more such husband-wife starrers?

Ajay is non-committal: "I guess there is a comfort level attached to working with someone you know so well. But both of us are thorough professionals. In fact, we don’t discuss work at home. And contrary to what the magazines say, I do not advise her on her professional life."

He does not even dignify rumours to the effect that he has prohibited Kajol from working with Shah Rukh Khan: "Who am I to tell her what to do? She has a mind of her own and she knows what is best for her. In the same way, she does not interfere in what I do. We respect each other’s intelligence."

Incidentally, Ajay had initially signed Manisha Koirala for the female lead of ‘Raju Chacha’. But Kajol — who loved the role and was upset about it not being offered to her — stepped in only when Manisha opted out because she did not have the necessary dates for shooting.

So what lies ahead for Ajay?

"I don’t need to do movies for money any more," he says reflectively. "When I look back, I can happily say I have enjoyed my work, regardless of whether the film ran or not. And if there is one film I am proud of, it is ‘Divyashakti’ because I think I performed very well in it. Others do not think so though!"

Apart from acting and filmmaking. Ajay has got into the distribution business in a big way. His banner, Devgan Entertainment is now registered as a public limited company and is poised to enter the IT sector with software packages for computers.

— MF

Hrithik Roshan goes global
Rakhee Gupta

WITH the signing of ‘Aditya’, last year’s ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai’ sensation, Hrithik Roshan is ready to go international. The Indo-American project is being produced by Los Angles-based James Killough and directed by Tarsem Singh, who made it to Hollywood’s A-list with the super smasher, ‘The Cell’.

Hrithik plays a Rajput Hamlet who avenges his father’s murder even though it causes the downfall of his own kingdom. In true Shakespearean tradition, he known exactly what he must do and during a ‘shikar’ kills his father’s brother who had married his mother.

The multi-million dollar film is to be shot on location in Jodhpur fort as well as in Shakespeare’s homeland. Although Hrithik’s co-stars remain to be finalised, Killough is "anxious to draw in as many big names from Bollywood" as possible.

"I would place Hrithik somewhere between Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas," opines the producer. "But regardless of his phenomenal success, he is a new name in the West. So we will have to sell him through the two known names — Hamlet and Shakespeare."

Singh, who scripted ‘Aditya’ almost seven years ago, had given up hopes of making the film because "the new India we see today was yet to be, and there wasn’t an actor around". Then, sometime last year, he saw Hrithik on the cover of a magazine and found what he had been looking for.

"As a 27-year-old, Hrithik has the star quality of one who brightens up a room the moment he walks in," says the director who signed the actor two months back. "He will be able to treat the subject with a passion and sensitivity that will add a new dimension to the film."

The script has done away with the Bard’s language."But, Shakespeare, even without his dialogue, is a master storyteller whose authorship remains unquestioned," he adds.

—MF

MUSCLE man Sylvester Stallone has suddenly taken a fascination for the King of the Jungle. Recently the ‘Rambo’ star had ten marble lions delivered to him from South Africa for his new mansion in Miami.

The star has had two statues stationed outside his villa and the rest adorn the rooms inside. Rumour has it that now no one can walk in the house without coming face to face with a carved lion. 

Now we know why Stallone has a lion-sized ego.

Chair fare

Tight-fisted Madonna has never felt more ripped off. She caused a flutter when she came unannounced at a Hollywood AIDS fund-raiser. The organisers went from table to table in the jam-packed hall begging people to vacate a couple of seats for Madonna and her friend. But people who had paid $ 400 for two seats refused to oblige. 

Till one couple agreed only on the condition that Madonna donate $ 1000 to the cause. Madonna reluctantly paid but has been cribbing about how badly the star-studded fund-raiser was organised.

Very few people know that Jodie Foster has an uncanny sense of premonition. She had one about her 1989 film ‘The Accused’. "The plot was very exciting, very gripping. I was sure it would turn out to be an extraordinary film." Which it did and earned her the Best Actress Oscar. Jodie had a similar premonition when she did ‘Silence of the Lambs’. This too turned out to be an extraordinary film and won Foster her second Oscar.

Now Universal Pictures has cast her again in the long-awaited ‘Silence of the Lambs’ sequel for a reported $ 20 million. "It’s going to be the best film of my life," says Jodie. If her prediction is true again she could be just a heartbeat away from her record third Oscar.

—NF

Even though he became known as ‘Hero’, Jackie Shroff has always wanted to play the bad guy. He feels he can give an altogether different dimension to negative roles and says he joined the film industry with the intention of playing such roles. However this was not to be. Jackie was mostly asked to play the good guy. Still, the odd bad guy role here and there was eagerly accepted. That is how movies like ‘Parinda’, ‘100 Days’ and ‘Aar Ya Paar’ happened. Now it seems that negative roles have given him a new lease of life as an actor. After playing Hilal in ‘Mission Kashmir’, Jackie plays the bad guy in Raj Santoshi’s ‘Lajja’. He plays a chauvinist married to Manisha Koirala in the film. Jackie is excited about the role which he says is " very challenging and more true-to-life" than most of the roles he has played before.

Its celebration time once again for Shah Rukh Khan. His home production ‘Asoka The Great’ is almost complete and he is planning to enter it in the Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Santosh Sivan, the film has ruffled the feathers of many historians, especially in Orissa, for its "historical inaccuracies". Shah Rukh defends it as an "entertainer and not a historical documentary". A clean-shaven, long-haired Shah Rukh stars in the film. He is reportedly happy with the way it has shaped up and is looking forward to its release. Along with the rest of the industry, we might add.

— Glitzy