Ajay Devgn On His New Film Runway 34, His Journey In The Film Industry And Much More

I have been looking forward to having a conversation with Ajay Devgn since I started doing podcasts with Bollywood celebrities. He has been a mentor to Abhishek Bachchan and Rohit Shetty, two extremely successful men in the industry. 

My goal with this episode was to get to know the mentor inside him, and I think I achieved it, which you will get to know while reading this blog. 

Ajay sir’s new movie Runway 34 is releasing on 29th April. Make sure you check it out. For now, I hope you enjoy reading this. Happy Reading!

 

Qualities Ajay Devgn Doesn’t Like About Himself

When I was researching for this podcast, I heard only positive things about Ajay Devgn. His response to this was, “You might have met the right people. Everyone has something negative to say about somebody” for which, I asked him, does he have some negative qualities he dislikes about himself?

“Yes, there are a few qualities I don’t like about myself. How do I say it? Everyone should work on their negative qualities and I have to work on them, too. I stress a lot which I know is not good for me. I stress about my kids and it ends up being a mess”.

 

Aging

At this stage of my life, I talk to many people who are older than me and try to learn about aging. People in their 40s or 50s talk about the stress of life. I asked Ajay sir what kind of stress he faces at his age?

“Till you are 40 or 45, these stresses don’t bother you. After 40, you start feeling the stress and become more responsible and mature”. 

“Before 40 or 45 years of age, you don’t think before reacting, but after the 40s, you think before reacting. In your 20s and 30s, you care little and have a feeling that you can handle any situation, but with age, you become responsible. When you achieve success, the responsibility increases, which requires a lot of hard work. When you are all alone, it doesn’t matter”.

 

His Views On Gen-Z

I am from a generation that saw the growth of social media during our teenage years. But, gen-z’s had social media since they were kids, which has molded their minds differently. Like I feel millennials care a lot in their 20s or 30s, whereas gen-z start caring in their teenage years.

“Yes, they care about things early on, but not in all aspects of their life. They do care about a lot of things but are careless in some aspects. So, there is a positive and a negative as well”.

 

Marriage 

I know Ajay sir doesn’t enjoy sharing about his personal life but I asked him why did he choose to marry Kajol mam?

 

“We met, and we got along really well, and then we started seeing each other. Eventually, we got married. Our thoughts are similar and it went in a flow”.

“There are disagreements, but we come to terms with it and discuss what is right and wrong. Understand the point of view of your significant other. Don’t stick by your egos”. 

“Marriages cannot work only on love. In marriage, love is transformed into partnership, responsibility, and caring”.

 

Mental Health

Today’s generation faces a lot of mental health issues, and because of the openness in conversation, people seek help. I asked Ajay sir, what does he do to deal with his mental health?

“I have tried therapy, but it didn’t work for me and as an introvert, I find it difficult to express myself. Being alone in dealing with my problems is what I prefer. I manage it on my own”.

 

His Journey As A Mentor

I have had conversations with Abhishek Bachchan and Rohit Shetty. Both mentioned that Ajay sir is like a mentor to them. I asked Ajay sir, what inspires him to help people?

“If I care about someone, I will stand by them all my life. So I would just love to see them grow. I wouldn’t say I have mentored Rohit Shetty. He is just a hard-working person. He picked up the craft of everything in this industry. We just got attached, and now, he is a brother to me”. 

“Rohit Shetty believes in entertaining the audience. He is clear about what he wants to make”.

 

Advice For People Who Aspire To be Actors

Ajay sir is an actor, director, and producer. I asked him to share his knowledge on what people should know about this industry before entering and how to attain success?

“I am nobody to tell anyone what to do. It depends on what they want to achieve. If someone would come and say they want to be an actor, my first question would be, if they want to be a star or an actor?”

“Be sure about whether it is your passion or talent or do you want stardom. If it is only stardom, it will not work. You are required to work hard and don’t expect overnight success. Even your luck matters, I would say”.

“When you are passionate about something, you will grow. For sure, there are difficulties, but you should not give up”.

 

Difficulties Of Working In The Media Industry

What sacrifices have you made to reach where you are today?

“You have to sacrifice a lot. And it can be as basic as dieting, not saying you need to have a particular diet but you have to be conscious about not gaining weight. You can’t speak your heart out all the time. Even if you choose to speak, there could be a backlash. If one person does wrong, the whole industry is blamed”. 

 

How Has He Survived Being An Introvert?

“People keep telling me I am not fit for this industry or I should market myself more, and be seen at parties. I will not change myself for something. I believe in myself and I think I can achieve what I want with the little talent I have. The moment you change, you would dislike yourself. You won’t enjoy your job because you are what you don’t want to be. Enjoy the process of working. Don’t focus on the outcome”.

 

Runway 34

I asked him if he is enjoying the process of his new film?

“Yes, I am enjoying the process. I can enjoy it till the 29th because after that I would worry about people’s opinions”. 

“Runway 34 is something very different. It is a thriller genre. It is an interesting film and I hope people will enjoy it”.

 

Journey With His Father

“I was more into direction work, and my father wanted me to be an actor. I was of the mentality that if my first film fails, I won’t go back to acting. The first film worked and then I started enjoying the process”. 

“My dad had a very hard time. When he was 12-13 he ran from home. He used to wash cabs, he even worked as a carpenter, then he became a fighter. He went through a lot. So he always felt that I should always be ahead of him. I learned integrity from him”

 

His Spiritual Belief

 Ajay sir, has a tattoo of Lord Shiva. I asked him why he has that and why is Lord Shiva so important?

“To be honest, I do not know how it happened or when it happened. I just know, I have always felt a connection. I got a lot of strength from him”. 

I honestly enjoyed this conversation, and I am glad. Though he is an introvert, he opened up, and I learned a lot from his life experience and his film journey.

 

We spoke about what he does in this free time and he replied, \”I watch series\”. I recommended to him a few series which you can check out on this blog.

5 Must Watch TV Shows For Fun And Learnings

Watch The Podcast

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