Ajay Devgn says he's been put behind bars twice, reveals why he changed his real name

Mumbai: It is a known fact that our Bollywood stars and controversies go hand-in-hand and every celebrity finds themselves in one or many of them over the course of their career.

There have some of them who were unlucky as they ‘chose’ the wrong controversies that got them into jail.

Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt are among a host of celebrities who have been put behind bars, but did you know a superstar, who’s not been a part of too many major controversies, also had the same fate?

We are talking about Ajay Devgn, who has been jailed not once but twice.

The superstar himself made the revelation, perhaps for the first time, in a recent interview to Mid-day.

Ajay was talking about how he was forced into his debut film ‘Phool Aur Kante’ at the age of 18 when he preferred to roam around and enjoy with his friends in college.

He was then asked if he was a ‘gunda’ during those days, he replied, “Full-on. I have been behind bars — twice inside a lock-up; even sneaked out my father's (Veeru Devgn) gun. And guys, that's illegal.”

Ajay also made another interesting revelation concerning his name. Not many might have been aware that the superstar’s real name is  Vishal. About the reason to change his name, he said, “I'll tell you why. In 1991, a couple of actors with the name Vishal were being launched. One of them was Manoj (Kumar) saab's son. There was major confusion. One of us had to change our name. So I did!”

The other name who might spring to my mind regarding a name change would be Akshay Kumar, whose real name is Rajiv Bhatia. Though the two actors have not been 'enemies' as much, the latter had earlier revealed that he was removed from ‘Phool Aur Kante’, the film which turned out to be Ajay’s debut and his key to success.

About Akshay being replaced, Ajay said, “I don't know what really happened there. Akshay and I have never spoken on this. I was told something else. And there are always multiple versions. When I was signed on, I was told that Akshay was supposed to do Phool Aur Kaante, but he's signed up for a bigger film, so he isn't doing it anymore. I don't know which version is true, and I didn't even know Akshay back then.”

Well, Ajay is surely gearing up for ‘Raid’ release on Friday with some interesting revelations.