Ajay Devgn and Tabu are the two of the most reliable actors of the Indian cinema, who have given several iconic performances through their films over the years. While the actors are gearing up for their yet another collaboration Auron Mein kaha Dum Tha, they reminisced the events from their past iconic films such as Zakhm and Virasat, respectively. In a recent interview, Ajay Devgn recalled how he signed the 1998 film Zakhm–a film based on the life of Mahesh Bhatt’s mother which starred his daughter Pooja Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Nagarjuna, Sonali Bendre and Kunal Kemmu in the lead roles. Also, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s last film as a director. Similarly, Tabu too recalled how she blindly said yes to Virasat, without reading the script or hearing the narration and landed in Pollachi for its shoot.
In an interview with Lallantop, Ajay Devgn recalled his experience working with Mahesh Bhatt and the awkward situation in which he said yes to Zakhm. “It’s lovely to work with Mahesh Bhatt. I was playing him in the film (Zakhm). I remember, when I was shooting in Hyderabad, we didn’t have mobile phones then. I was in the shower when the landline in my room rang, the ones which used to be placed in the bathroom, close to your shower… I just picked it up, so the voice on the other side said, ‘Mahesh sir wants to speak to you’, he passed him the phone and then I said, ‘Bhatt sahab I am having a shower’, he said, ‘you just listen to me, I am directing the last film of my life, and I am quitting after this… he started to narrate the story, but because I was in the shower, I said, ‘Bhatt sahab, I am taking a shower, I will do the film’. That’s how Zakhm happened. After that, he never made a film. He stuck to his words.”
Tabu added, “We thought he was bluffing because a lot of people used to claim that this would be their career’s last film but that’s never the case.”
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Ajay Devgn then added turning towards Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha director Neeraj Pandey, and said, “I don’t know if you have watched the film, the scenes were so moving that when we used to reach to the set, there were many scenes where I was doing nothing but the scenes are so strong that you are just standing there and emoting. And whenever he made the scenes, I went and told him, ‘I have nothing to do in this scene. But I know the scene is about me only, so I am not doing anything, I will just stand there and feel it, if you like it then keep it otherwise we will see what to do about it. And Bhatt sahab was like ‘okay’. So that’s all I did. Whatever scene was being shot, I was just watching. There was no performance in the film.”
Tabu quickly asked Ajay, “Did you take a lot of takes?”, Ajay was quick to reply, “Bhatt sahab never takes retakes. It’s very less when he would.”
When Tabu was asked if she has said yes to a film in a hurry. The actress was quick to reply, “Yeah, I have done that a lot of times. This has happened several times with Priyadarshan. I never heard the script or narration of Virasat, and Kaala Paani. It’s mostly because of the trust you have and also you really want to work with the particular director.”
Ajay backed her by saying, “If you have the tuning with the director, then you do this.”
Tabu agreed and said, “Yeah, and you know they will have something better only. I had no clue about the film (Virasat). I was shooting for a Telugu film at that time. It was a perfect ‘masala’ film. And then I travelled to Pollachi from Mumbai, where we were shooting for the film. And I had no clue what this film was about and what’s my role, nothing when I landed there. They had arranged the preview of the original film Thevar Magan–the original film–which we were about to remake as Virasat. They showed to me and said, ‘This is the film that we are remaking’ and I was still not understanding what role was it. If they want me to play Revathi’s role, I was like, ‘But she is nowhere to be seen in half of the movie’, I was like, ‘Is this the role, Priya has approached me for?’ And then suddenly a scene came and I literally got up from my seat and was like ‘oh my god, this is the character, that’s why he has given me this character.’ So then I was like, ‘wow, amazing character’.”
She added, “So mostly, several times, this is how I have just said yes to a film with the trust I have had on the director even without hearing the script. So now, even if Vishal calls me and be like, ‘there’s a film I want you to do’, I will not even ask him ‘what is it’, I will say yes. It depends on the history you share with the director, experience and how much you want to work with that particular director.”
Tabu and Ajay Devgn’s film Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha is scheduled to hit the big screen on 2 August.
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