Actor Ajay Devgn believes that 30-40 years from now people will forget stars like him because in the film industry what is out of sight goes out of mind.
"We are currently here and we are in front of the media and people, but I don't think 30-40 years from today people would remember stars like us. There have been instances, there have been stories in the past, who the current generation does not remember and have forgotten (them)," the 43-year-old told reporters here on the occasion of being inducted into UTV Stars' Walk of the Stars.
"They have been much bigger stars than what we are and if you can have all of them there (Walk of the Stars) so that their memory remains. I think they should live on, so it's a fabulous thing to do," added Ajay referring to the Walk of the Stars.
Actress Sonakshi Sinha, Ajay's co-star in "Son of Sardaar", has also become a part of the prestigious group and is elated.
"I am over the moon because my hand print gets to be with some of the biggest stars in our country today. I feel really honoured and privileged that I got the opportunity so early in my career. So, I just like to thank UTV Stars Walk of the Stars," Sonakshi said.
Film: Son Of Sardaar
Starring: Ajay Devgan, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjay Dutt
Director: Ashwani Dhir
Producer: Ajay Devgn, N R Pachisia, Pravin Talreja
Banner: Ajay Devgn Ffilms, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures
Music: Sajid, Wajid, Himesh Reshammiya
Every time Vindoo Dara Singh, who plays a part of an extended patriarchal Punjabi parivaar in the Sikh heartland, opens his mouth to speak, he is shushed down by others saying, "Silencer lagaa."
By God, at times you feel this loud, flamboyant, ostentatious yet-all right, admit it-sinfully engaging film should just pipe down. There is so much that's noisy about this film. And we aren't talking about Sandeep Chowta's over-accented background score. Yet it's never unpleasant noise.
"Son Of Sardaar" takes us into the core of a family feud in Punjab where Sanjay Dutt, playing a goofy oddball of a Panjabi patriarch as only he can, wants our affable Sardarji Ajay Devgn dead to fulfil an ancestral vendetta.
The IQ level of every character in this film is way below average. Every man in Ashwani Dhir's world of belligerent bloodbaths is more daft than the previous. The women are slightly more intelligent, though our leading lady Sonakshi Sinha, photogenic as she is, has begun to get repetitive in her chirpiness. Juhi Chawla, as the woman who waits 25 years to marry Sanjay Dutt and then finally tells him, "Sorry, I don't want to build my mandap over the grave of another woman's love", is also intellectually challenged.
The smartest character in this smarter-than-the-characters film is played by Tanuja who, as the matriarch, feigns senility whenever it suits her.
The men around her make it easier. They are incorrigibly dumb, you see.
Love it or hate it, "Son Of Sardaar" is what a mainstream Hindi film is meant to be. A full-on masala-maar-ke action-comedy with dollops drama dripping from the edges like wet cheese in a tasty pizza. This is a film which is not just smarter than its character but also much more intelligent than it actually seems.
"Son Of Sardaar" derives its feisty energy from the original Telugu film by S. Rajamouli ("Maryada Ramanna"). The feudal plot is transposed from Madurai to Punjab. With that journey that the plot undertakes the film acquires a whole lot of cocky humor and a kind of eclectic warmth that keeps popping up most unexpectedly.
Providentially, "Son Of Sardaar" turns the vendetta saga on its head. The bloodshed between two warring families is converted into a crisp comic currency where action speaks louder than the words. Director Ashwan Dhir, whose antecedents in television show up here in the episodic movement of the plot, sustains the action, comedy and drama in the same line of vision. Miraculously, the plot moves steadily from mood to mood without seeming scattered. There is space even regular breaks for romance in the narration. Though the songs could have been avoided, the song breaks are pleasant.
By the time the chaos is all sorted out, the narration collapses in an exhausted but triumphant heap.
Some sequences such as Devgn and Sonakshi's first encounter in the train overstay their welcome. Just like the mehmaan Paresh Rawal in Dhir's last Hindi film "Atithee Tum Kab Jaoge", Devgn refuses to leave once he enters Dutt's family home. The rather eccentric comic strain in the plot hinges on trying to get Devgn out of Dutt's home to settle an old family score.
While Dutt is more satirical than sinister in his search for vendetta (and that's what the script requires him to be), Devgn's Sardar act are brilliantly controlled and moderate. He plays the foreign-returned Sikh who is suddenly thrown into a fatuous feud with a sense of wonderment.
The quip about Sardar jokes and Sardar quirks lend a self-deprecating transparency to the character. Ideally, Akshay Kumar would've played this part. But Devgn takes the rather dimwitted but affable character to a higher than the goofy plane. This man knows when to act dumb.
Among the truckloads of supporting players, Mukul Dev as an oafish loutish drunkard stands out. But didn't he play the same character in Samir Karnik's "Chaar Din Ki Chaandni" not too long ago? Come to think of it, haven't we visited the Punjabi heartland frequently enough since Imtiaz Ali's "Jab We Met"? Give this one a chance though.
"Son Of Sardaar" is a rollicking rumbustious wild and wacky action-comedy. It's a spaghetti-western relocated to Punjab that would keep Devgn's fans regaled. Even if you are not a big fan of the typical potboiler this one makes you smile.
One question: why was Juhi Chawla behaving like Dolly Bhindra?
Our Rating : 3/5
Actor-producer Ajay Devgn, who has filed a complaint with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) alleging that the makers of "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" have been blocking the release of his film "Son of Sardaar" in theatres, says his fight is not against Shah Rukh Khan who is playing lead in the movie.
"The fight is not between Shah Rukh and Ajay Devgn and there is no fight between both of us. This is unnecessarily people has created. Both of us are actors. This is Ajay Devgn as a producer, fighting for his right with some other producer and if people are playing with it then it's wrong," said Ajay.
Directed by Ashwni Dhir, "Son of Sardar" features Ajay, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha, and Juhi Chawla, while "Jab Tak hai Jan" stars Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif along with SRK.
The complaint was filed before Yash Chopra's death and according to association's rule, one cannot back out after filing the complaint.
"We filed the case on Oct 18th when we hadn't even thought that Yashji will be hospitalised. Main problem was that the timing went wrong. We filed the case long back and as per the law you can't withdraw the case filed with the Competition Commission. My fight is not with them; it is just against right and wrong. Again I am talking about it, but I am not supposed to talk about it."
Ajay moved the CCI, claiming that YRF was using its dominant position to ask exhibitors to dedicate more screens to "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" instead of his movie "Son of Sardaar" - both are coming out on Diwali, Nov 13.
It's do and die situation for Ajay.
"If I release the film on the same day, then people will call me villain and if I don't release it, it's a major loss for us," he said.
"Sadly, post Yashji's death many people pressurised me through media and said Ajay Devgn should delay his film. Till now Rs.80 to Rs.90 crore have been put in the film. Corporates are involved and they are answerable to share-holders. So with all due respect, I thought of releasing it on the same day," he added.
Once the release date is decided, it is not easy for anyone to change it. Ajay says that when he asked others to delay the release of their films, they said it's not feasible.
"When I said ask Aamir Khan to release his film ('Talaash') after two weeks and ask Akshay Kumar to release his film ('Khilade 786') on Christmas or ask Salman Khan to go for January release (for 'Dabangg 2'). So people said that's not possible. So, why only Ajay will have to sacrifice? I don't feel any pressure when I gave this option - sab chup ho gaye na."
Urging media to support him in his fight for justice, Ajay said he is very confident about SOS.
"It's not just a comedy, it's a balance of everything...once you see the film, you will say Sanjay Dutt is the highlight of the film," the 43-year-old said.
