Tabu and Ajay Devgn’s friendship extends beyond their film careers. The two actors — who have collaborated multiple times and will be seen together in their 10th film together, Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha — knew each other years before they faced the camera together.
In a conversation, Tabu explained that Ajay was her cousin’s childhood friend and that they had known each other since they were 12 years old, growing up together. She told Lallantop, “Our friendship lasted because it didn’t start on the set of a film.”
Childhood friends soon found themselves starring in their first film together, Vijaypath. By this time, Ajay was already three years into his film career and had done over 10 films. While Vijaypath revived Ajay’s flagging career after a series of flops in 1993, it made Tabu an overnight star as she delivered her first superhit. Though Vijaypath proved to be a boon for Tabu, she wasn’t the first choice for the film. Initially, the lead actress role was offered to Divya Bharti, but her untimely death in 1993 led to Tabu taking on the role.
Raveena Tandon, in past interviews, has also spoken about how she was approached to play the lead role opposite Ajay in the film, only to find out that Tabu had replaced her. Speaking to Lehren Retro, Raveena blamed losing the role on industry groupism. She said, “I have never done that kind of politics and groupism, but others have blatantly done politics against me. I was supposed to do Saajan Chale Sasural with David Dhawan and Govinda, and they told me this later. I had even signed Vijaypath, but I lost the film.”
Since Tabu and Ajay had known each other for years, their on-screen chemistry in the film wasn’t a problem. The duo also had a blast shooting for the film. In the interview, Tabu mentioned how Ajay was known as the biggest prankster on set, and she often had to shield his pranks from his father, Veeru Devgn, who was the action director of the film.
Tabu said, “It wasn’t difficult to work with him. Mujhe bahut daant padti thi Veeru ji se inki dosti nibhane ke chakar mein (I would get a lot of scolding from his father, Veeru Devgan, to maintain my friendship with him). He always used to think that we knew everything that Ajay wasn’t telling him. He used to call me on the landline and say, ‘Tum logo ko sab pata hai tum mujhe batate nahi ho (You know everything about him but you don’t tell me).’ I had no choice; I had to hide all his mischiefs.”
But it wasn’t all fun and games on the set of Vijaypath. During her interaction, when Tabu was asked about her one memory from the film, she recalled how she tore her ligament during the shooting of a song but continued working through the pain as she shot the film’s iconic song “Ruk Ruk Ruk.” She told India Today, “I had torn a ligament in my foot and I danced with the torn ligament for the song during the Karnataka shooting schedule.”
Tabu also revealed the reason behind their ever-lasting friendship and how Ajay’s acceptance of other people’s authenticity makes her respect him. She emphasised that Ajay gives her the space to make her own decisions and never imposes anything on her. “He does not demand you to be somebody else. So that’s a good quality that he has. In particular, I think, with me, he is completely unconditional. He is completely indulgent and he never stops working with me. Many times, it happens that whenever I have issues with a producer or a filmmaker or whatever, they will call Ajay and say, ‘You talk to her. She is not shooting or promoting the film.’ But one thing I must acknowledge about him is that he never tries to come in the way of my decisions or tries to influence me. He respects my space,” she said.
After Vijaypath, the dup starred in several films including, Haqeeqat (1995), Thakshak (1999), Drishyam (2015), Fitoor (2016), Golmaal Again (2017), De De Pyaar De (2019), Drishyam 2 (2022) and Bholaa (2023). Their 10th film Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha will be released in theatres this Friday.
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