When there was an invitation to visit Hyderabad, where Ajay Devgn was shooting for the fourth edition of the comedy franchise Golmaal, there was no indication that fun would be on the off-screen menu too.
But it wasn't fun when Ajay, Tusshar Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Kunal Khemu and Shreyas Talpade turned up in blue jeans and white shirts for a song sequence to be picturised outdoor at Ramoji Rao Studio and it rained all day. Not a single shot could be taken as cups of tea were downed by all and Ajay went through more than two packs of cigarettes. His daily quota, by the way, exceeds 40 cancer sticks. Daughter Nysa has given up nagging him about it.
After 4pm, the skies cleared and Parineeti Chopra, the new entrant to the franchise, drove up from her hotel room. She'd spent the day playing Ludo and twiddling her thumbs. Parineeti loves calorie-stuffed cheese crust pizzas but shows no signs on her now-svelte physique.
"But the day I wrap up this film, I'll eat 10 pizzas in a row," she vowed. Ajay promptly challenged her to eat that many and she quickly came down to three 12-inch ones. "I can easily eat three at one go," she said, a bit weakly. The challenge is on for her on the day director Rohit Shetty says, "It's a wrap". Which he will after one more song, to be shot in Ooty as Golmaal Again (GA) readies as a Diwali release.
The film that will clash with it is Aamir Khan's Secret Superstar, directed by his one-time assistant Advait Chandan. A musical, it stars Dangal girl Zaira Wasim - a rare Kashmiri girl in the Hindi film industry - and Aamir himself in a lengthy role.
But back to GA. The Rohit-Ajay friendship harks back to 1991, when Ajay was introduced in Phool Aur Kaante. Rohit was then an assistant to director Kuku Kohli. After teaming up on two successful franchises ( Golmaal, 11 years old; Singham, two editions), both are on top of their game. Discovery Channel is also on the sets of GA to make one episode on each of them for a series on creative people who love their jobs.
Other than being the sons of famous action directors, both are also men of great discipline. Ajay is known to reach his set a little before time but never late, and likes to wind up by sundown. Rohit doesn't drink and, shooting or not, he's up by 6am every day. That's the kind of discipline that has also made him one of the most successful hosts on Indian TV today. His Khatron Ke Khiladi is the second highest-viewed reality show, after Zee TV's Sa Re Ga Ma.
But even before GA hits the screens, Ajay has Baadshaho coming up on September 1. The Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai team of Ajay, Emraan Hashmi, director Milan Luthria and writer Rajat Arora is doing a repeat after seven years. Cinematically, Baadshaho takes off from the real-life story of the mounds of gold jewellery that Maharani Gayatri Singh lost during the Emergency of 1975. It was rumoured then that Indira Gandhi, who never liked the Maharani, had a hand in it. But Baadshaho is a badass action-thriller without political overtones.
GA, on the other hand, is pure entertainment. The venue, spread over 1,600 acres, is an integrated film city with three five-star hotels. Everyone stayed in one called Sitara. That's where Ajay relaxed in the evening with a drink and a plate of chicken, his sparse dinner. That's also where one bumped into Bobby Deol. He was there to kick off the shooting of another family comedy - the third edition of Yamla Pagla Deewana with all three Deols. Bobby, with a stiff neck, sat with his head inclined to the left, left eye half closed like a perpetual wink.
I bumped into Dharmendra too, who has lost weight and said he felt fit. His new film was was being shot next door to where Ajay was shooting an action sequence. He was gracious about my not dropping in on his set. "Your presence is being felt and that's enough," he smiled.
Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author
