Ajay Devgn in Singham

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Ajay Devgn in Singham on Buzzinebollywood.com

FILM INTERVIEW: AJAY DEVGN

Rohit Shetty’s ‘Singham’ Brings Bollywood Actor Back as a Big-Screen Action Star

By: Simran Mody
July 19, 2011

Ajay Devgn in Singham on buzzinebollywood.comAs Rohit Shetty’s Singham hits the big screen on July 22nd, Ajay Devgn will end an eight-year action genre drought. That is quite the remarkable stretch, considering Mr. Devgn, who is married to Bollywood heroine Kajol, launched his Hindi film career about 20 years ago in the 1991 hit Phool Aur Kaante. Now in 2012, Mr. Devgn pulled off a “Salman Khan” and sculpted his body in order to pull off his role in Singham, which also stars Kajal Aggarwal, Prakash Raj, Ashok Saraf, Sachin Khedekar, and Sonali Kulkarni.

 
Please mind Mr. Devgn, who portrays a Marathi police officer in the Bollywood remake of Tamil’s Singham, as he believed he could not pull off the action hero role after a prolonged sabbatical. Thankfully, he found the script to be solid enough for him to make a return to the action genre before he gets too old.
 
“Even though I started as an action hero, I had not done an action film for the past eight years, and I was skeptical whether I would be able to do it or not,” Mr. Devgn told the press. “I waited for all these years before exploring the genre again, because I was not getting the right script. But Singham was fabulous. It is hard-hitting, a complete entertainer, and creates a balance between entertainment and being sensible. Also, the film has amazing action sequences. I am glad I did manage to pull it off.”
 
He may have indeed been able to “pull it off,” and fans will make their own determinations as such this weekend, but Mr. Devgn’s acting career has steered quite clear of the action genre of late, what with his filmography being filled with flicks such as the Golmaal trilogy, All The Best, Rajneeti, Aakrosh, and London Dreams since his last action genre production of Qayamat (2003).
 
The return action comes with even more fanfare, considering Mr. Devgn sports a six-pack in the film. Accordingly, fans are loosely comparing Mr. Devgn to Mr. Salman Khan.
 
Thankfully, Mr. Devgn discovered that his new physique has attracted the most interest of celebrity fans, even Salman himself.
 
“I got to know that Salman liked my body and expressed it on Twitter. It made me feel nice. This shows that there is no rivalry among us, unlike the reports that go around. We all support each other and appreciate each other,” Mr. Devgn told the press, returning the compliment to the box office king. “Salman has the best body in the industry. We are very good friends, and when he tweeted about my six-pack for my film, I take it as a compliment," he said.
 
(A quick glance at Mr. Khan’s Twitter page shows Salman tweeting “Baap re baap. Superb Ajay’s body is looking. Too good.”)
 
Further playing on the lack of competition amongst actors, Mr. Devgn said there is no comparison between Singham and Mr. Khan’s Dabangg.
 
“We have nothing to do with Dabangg. The only similarity is that both the lead actors -- me and Salman -- are wearing uniforms; that’s it,” Mr. Devgn said. “There should be no comparisons.”
 
Also lacking comparison was Mr. Devgn’s routine in achieving a six-pack, as the actor said he did not really follow any common routine in sculpting his physique.
 
“I didn’t have to do a lot in terms of training. I trained a little more than usual and followed a more strict diet for two months,” Mr. Devgn told the press. “I don’t follow any trend. It was the necessity of the script, so I decided to get it. I have hit the gym regularly for three hours and followed a controlled diet.”
 
Of course, the strict regimen was worth it to Mr. Devgn, who actually saw Singham as a challenge.
 
“I took it as a challenge because I was doing a full-fledged action film after Khakee,” Mr. Devgn said to the media. “I want to entertain my audience with my film. After giving my first shot, I was quite confident that I can give some convincing action scenes.”
 
How convincing Mr. Devgn actually was remains to be seen, and we will find out for sure after July 22nd, when Rohit Shetty’s Singham opens worldwide.