Filmmakers Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty spilled some beans on the latest episode of Koffee with Karan season 8. From their parents' struggles in the film industry to their work ethic this episode was filled with some wholesome yet eye-opening revelations.
Here are five highlights from the episode:
Ajay Devgn on Nepotism
During the episode, he revealed his father, late stunt director Veeru Devgan, ran from his Punjab home at 13, came to Mumbai without a train ticket and was sent behind bars. He would often go hungry. He eventually found a cab cleaning job and was allowed to sleep in that cab itself. He later became a carpenter but also slowly engaged in street fights as he was part of gangs. Later senior action director Ravi Khanna spotted him during a gang's street fight and told him, “Tu ladta bahut ajha hai (you fight very well)”, and made him a fighter (in films.)
“Today you go on social media, read so many things like nepotism etc but people don't realise that the generations have worked very, very hard to reach till here. It's not an easy story.”
Ajay earlier had posted a video of his late father. Take a look:
Rohit Shetty on 'Cirkus' Failure
The director also opened up about his failures in the industry. He spoke about the box office failure of Cirkus and how he has learnt from it.
"It was a film made during pandemic, even before Sooryavanshi was released. I feel somewhere me as a director went wrong with that film. And good it was a small film that I went wrong and not a big one. But three days later I was shooting for my web series. I’d didn’t affect me. Because once you realise that you have made a mistake, you can’t be an escapist. You sit and analyse what should be avoided in future."
Rohit's Take on The New Generation of Actors
Rohit, not one to mince his words, got candid about his thoughts on the new crop of actors who are different from the older generation. He said:
“I think there is fighting spirit. There is too much insecurity or too much of validation they need from social media and from the people whom they don’t know. I think they are very insecure. And I don’t know why. Maybe they have their own thing because they are born in this generation. They even overthink every decision.”
Ajay on his Aversion to Attending Parties
In a hilarious turn of events the audience got to know that Ajay does not enjoy attending parties and therefore he is rarely spotted at one. He also shared that there was a misconception that he is arrogant but that has given way to the understanding that he is just not the party-going sort.
He said:
“I was always like this. Initially, people thought I was arrogant but now they know I am like this. I have this discomfort of mingling with people and just chatting and talking. I would like to meet people but when it’s personal and private and quiet. Otherwise, I feel very awkward. If I decide to go out somewhere in the evening for a get-together, by the time I start falling sick. If I am genuinely sick, Kajol will say “You’re purposely doing it.”
Ajay on Nysa Getting Media Attention
The media has been showering attention on star-kids and Nysa Devgn is part of that group. Ajay emphasised that she does not like the attention but she really can't do anything about it.
"Of course, she doesn’t like it and so do I. But you can’t change it, so you live with it. It is what it is, doesn’t matter. Few people talking rubbish about you does not mean the whole world thinks the same about you. If one is not trolled, social media doesn’t work. If you are writing good things, no one is interested in reading it."
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)