The lion roars

Now with Singham,both,the actor and director,try their hands at their favourite genre,action. While Ajay began his career as an action star 20 years ago with Phool Aur Kaante,Rohit is popular for his brilliant stunt scenes even in his comedy films. As is known,Singham is the remake of the successful 2010 Tamil film starring superstar Suriya,with the same title. Like him,Ajay too plays a cop,in a small-town in Maharashtra. Rohit and I have been wanting to make an action film for a long time but we were not getting the right script. When we saw the Tamil film,we were convinced that this is what we wanted to do.

And we began work on it and today Singham,which means lion,is all set to roar in the theatres on July 22. Though the title and the storyline are the same,the script has undergone drastic changes. So it is a fresh film all together, admits the actor,who plays the character of Bajirao Singham,the cop. For him,playing the character of Bajirao was quite cool. As I have never played such a character before,it was fun doing it, he says adding that since the film has a Maharashtrian backdrop,he has had to mouth some dialogues in Marathi. I have lived all my life in Mumbai,so I understand Marathi,though I cannot speak the language very well. There was no problem saying a few lines for the film that has some very talented artistes from Marathi films and theatre. They are all simple people and it was a pleasure working with all of them, states the actor whose wife Kajol is half-Maharashtrian.

For Singham,the actor-director duo has tried out some different kind of stunts. The film has some very good stunts that are very raw yet stylised. It suits todays temperament as it has been conceived and shot in a very different way by Rohit who is a wizard at stunt sequences, states the actor while informing that only after watching the film will we get an idea of what they have brought on screen. Though it is a hardcore action film,it would also have humour,drama and typical action,he admits.

When queried about the controversy regarding the films poster being a copy of Dabanng as well as the look of the hero from that film,Ajay laughs it off saying,The only similarity is the vardi uniform. If you see clearly,even the look and the moustache is different. So I do not know what the controversy is all about.

Gauging the response that the promos have been garnering,Ajay is quite excited about the films fate at the box-office though he has not yet seen the film in its entirety,I saw it during the dubbing and have loved it. So I am confident, he smiles.

Singham has a new heroine,Kajal Aggarwal,and Ajay talks fondly of her. She is a confident girl. Rohit and I wanted a fresh face for the film and we happened to watch her Telugu hit film Magadheera. She was very good in it. The added advantage was that she is from Mumbai and is fluent in Hindi. So we have a combination of a very good actress from South who is based in Mumbai. In her,we found what we wanted.

From the original version,the only actor to be retained is Prakash Raj who plays the villain. Says Ajay,It was a fabulous experience working with him. He is such a talented actor that when sharing the screen space with him,he makes the other actor also look good.

About the director and their inseparable friendship that goes back to past 20 years,the actor says,What do I say about Rohit Shetty? Our bond is so strong that we have been together this long. And we have been very successful as a working team. That says it all.

One of the scenes that is being much-talked about in the film is where Ajay shot in adverse climatic conditions baring his body. It was in Mahabaleshwar where the temperature was below zero degrees Celsius and Ajay had to flaunt his well-toned body that he has built specially for this film while he had to shoot inside the chilling water. I did it and enjoyed it. However I was grateful that it was over as I was on a strict diet to shape up my body since I had to bare it for the scene. And this was not the first time that I was shirtless,I did it in Omkara, he reminds us.

Ajay is known for pulling pranks along with Rohit on his unit members. When asked who was the target this time,he says,This time we only concentrated on work we were shooting for 20 hours at a stretch as we wanted to release Singham on July 22 to cash in on the weeks following,as there are no major releases during that time.

Ajay is now christened as the master of comedies. So after an action film,he starts work from August 20 on Bol Bachchan,a comedy again with Rohit Shetty. This is a remake of Hrishikesh Mukherjees laugh-riot with Amol Palekar-Utpal Dutt,Golmaal. A lot of changes have been made in the script and though I play the role that was enacted by Utpal Dutt,it will have different shades to it, says the actor,who is teamed with Abhishek Bachchan once again after Zameen. His David Dhawan-directed Rascals is to release on October 6. This,again a comedy,has shaped up very well. There is fabulous music and I am totally happy with Rascals, he says of the film,where he plays a con- man along with Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Rampal. Kangna Ranauat is the heroine.

The Priyadarshan-directed Tezz that also stars Anil Kapoor,Mohanlal,Kunal Kapoor and Kangna Ranaut is to release by the end of this year or maybe early next year,Ajay adds that he will also be working with Vishal Bhardwaj once again after Omkara. The film,to be produced by Vishal,Ajay and Kumar Mangat,will have Anushka Sharma as the heroine and will take off in January next year. He says that he cannot reveal much at the moment,as is the case with another comedy that is being directed by Ashwani Dhir who had made Atithi8230; Tum Kab Jaoge?. Then there is Rajkumar Santoshis Power.

After a lucky phase since 2010 including Atithi 8230;Tum Kab Jaoge?,Raajneeti,Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai,Aakrosh,Golmaal 3,Toonpur Ka Superrhero and Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji,what does 2011 hold for him? Ajay grins,I just have three films this year; Singham,Tezz and Rascals. And I am sure they will also do well. I am hopeful.

namita.nivasexpressindia.com