Ajay dons the funnyman hat

Ajay Devgn is a one of a kind actor, who has fans for two very specific types of acts. While he gains followers for his action roles, he has a comedy niche too. With the Golmaal franchise, over the years, the actor has managed to gain wide recognition for his slapstick comic timing, and has gone on to have his name etched alongside the movies forever.

Now, back with Golmaal Again, the actor will be seen sharing screen space with his old co-star and friend Tabu, as well as in a fresh new pairing, with Parineeti Chopra. Ajay sits down to talk with us about comedy, his leading ladies, movies and more. 

Opposite images
Comedy roles have their own fun; I love playing such roles. But I would say that I love playing all kinds of roles that come my way. I think every actor should try doing different kinds of roles because that’s what makes you larger than life. So, I like playing characters like these, where you are making fun of yourself and people are making fun of you.

Back to Golmaal
It’s a very big film franchise and people enjoy it a lot. I think the fourth part of the series has been made because the audience has loved the previous films. Golmaal is the biggest brand in the country, when it comes to entertaining people through the medium of cinema. That’s our job; we like entertaining people. We worked out a good script, and therefore made Golmaal Again. My son Yug keeps watching the Golmaal movies on the television repeatedly. It’s a film series that’s aired on TV every weekend. So he’s now waiting to see Golmaal Again too. 

Logic and movies
The ‘no logic, only magic’ tagline in the movie doesn’t mean you can come and watch a film without any logic. This tagline just goes well with the storyline of the film, which is why we have used this. As you all know, Golmaal Again is a horror comedy, which means there will be a ghost in the movie. But if you go by logic, ghosts don’t exist. The tagline is keeping that in mind. By no stretch is this a senseless comedy film. What’s logic to me? There’s no logic to cinema. Having said that, I feel there shouldn’t be plain senselessness in them. The bottom line still is to deliver entertainment. But that doesn’t mean you can show just about anything.

Friends above all
My friendship with Tabu isn’t the kind us actors share with our co-stars. Our friendship goes back to the time when we were in college, and had not entered the film industry. My friendship with her is exactly the same like one has with their closest friends. It’s one where you can pass insulting comments and banter with each other, and still be the best of friends. 

It’s not all about marketing
This isn’t the reason for a movie to do well or not do well. Films don’t do well if they don’t meet the audience’s mark and that has nothing to do with marketing. Basically, marketing is a reminder to the audience that a certain film is releasing. The makers release the promo and release more content like mini trailers. Based on that, the audience decides if they want to see the film or not. 

What we can do is get out and promote the film in a way that it reminds the audiences that the film is releasing. You can remind them as much as you want, but that’ll only work if they want to see your movie, at the end of the day. 

On Golmaal Again clashing with Aamir Khan’s Secret Superstar
I don’t see a clash between Golmaal Again and Secret Superstar, because both movies belong to very different genres. Secret Superstar has a very different target audience. And that audience will go watch that movie first and will also watch our film, because Diwali is a period where people want entertainment. Some want niche cinema too, and that’s why I feel both movies will work at the box office. 

On the plate
We’ve finished about 50 per cent of Raid (in which he stars with Ileana D’Cruz). I have taken a break to promote Golmaal Again, and will resume shooting after its release. We will wrap up the shoot by the end of November.