‘Bholaa’ star Ajay Devgn on Amitabh Bachchan’s injury, possible team-up with Lokesh Kanagaraj

Ajay Devgn in a still from ‘Bholaa’
| Photo Credit: YouTube/Ajay Devgn Ffilms

Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn has hinted at a possible collaboration with Lokesh Kanagaraj in the future.

On Monday, Ajay and team launched the trailer of Bholaa at an IMAX theatre in Mumbai. The Hindi remake of Kanagaraj’s Tamil-language action thriller Kaithi (2019), Bholaa is directed and headlined by Ajay. He is joined by frequent collaborator Tabu in the cast, along with Deepak Dobriyal, Sanjay Mishra, Vineet Kumar and others. Abhishek Bachchan and Amala Paul have cameo appearances in the film.

During the event, amid clamouring fanfare, Ajay was asked if he got to interact with Lokesh during the process of Bholaa.

“Not really but through people we’ve been in touch,” Ajay said. “We are discussing a few things for the future.”

An action spectacle, Bholaa follows an ex-prisoner, played by Ajay, who takes on a gang of smugglers in a bid to reunite with his daughter. Tabu plays a tough-skinned cop who sets Bholaa on the job.

Earlier on Monday, news arrived that Ajay’s Runway 34 co-star Amitabh Bachchan had injured himself on sets of Prabhas’s Project K in Hyderabad. The 80-year-old veteran suffered a muscle tear after getting struck in his right rib cage while filming an action scene. He was treated at AIG Hospital in Hyderabad and flown back to his home, Jalsa, in Mumbai.

Ajay, asked about safety precautions observed on sets, said, “When Mr. Bachchan started (his career), and later when we started, at that point when we did action there were no mattresses, cables or other safety measures. We injured every part of our body.”

He recalled an incident of Amitabh Bachchan getting injured on the sets of Major Saab. Ajay and Bachchan had starred together in the 1998 film directed by Tinnu Anand.

“We had to jump together from a height of 30 feet,” Ajay recalled. “He insisted on doing it without body doubles. He had an injury then also.”

In present times, however, the safety standards have improved considerably, Ajay claimed. “There are cables, there are lots of precautions. There are doctors and ambulances on set. There are paddings (for limbs). So it’s become relatively much easier.”

He compared the craft of action filmmaking – and its inherent risks – to driving a car. “You can have an accident any time but you try to be safe all the time,” Ajay said

Bholaa is releasing in theatres on March 30.