After Pathaan, fingers crossed Bholaa will also do well: Ajay Devgn

MUMBAI: Bollywood star Ajay Devgn on Monday said he hopes his upcoming film ''Bholaa'' maintains the momentum at the box office set by ''Pathaan''. ''Pathaan'', starring Shah Rukh Khan, emerged as ''the all-time number one Hindi film in India'' after raising Rs 1,028 crore worldwide since its release in January.

While Devgn said he is currently concentrating on completing the film's production, he is confident about ''Bholaa'' being a good movie.

''We just have had 'Pathaan' which did fabulous and extraordinary business so just fingers crossed that all the next releases would do well. And 'Bholaa' will come now and it will also do well,'' the actor told reporters here.

Devgn was speaking at the trailer launch of ''Bholaa'', which also marks his return to direction after 2022's ''Runway''. ''Bholaa'' is the Hindi remake of the Tamil hit ''Kaithi'', which was written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. The story revolves around an ex-convict (Karthi) who decides to meet his daughter for the first time after being released from prison but gets caught in a face-off between police and drug mafia.

Describing ''Bholaa'' as a ''family story'', the actor-filmmaker said audience tends to enjoy a film if the stunts are backed by emotion.

''If you do action without any reason, there will be no reaction for it no matter how good action it is... I don't think there is difference between mass and family audience when emotions are concerned. Emotions are universal, like the emotion of a father and mother for their children is the same,'' he added.

As an artist, Devgn said the idea is to ''create something new of our own''.

''In this film and 'Shivaay' (his 2016 directorial), there are shots which you don't know how they were taken. It's a whole process but the idea is to keep it stylised, keep it Indian and not westernise it,'' he said. The 53-year-old actor also said he can't choose between acting and direction.

''You can't segregate between acting and direction because it is all one, you enjoy filmmaking in totality, you enjoy waking up in the morning and going to work. So, it is a combination, you can't enjoy one or love the other,'' he added.

''Bholaa'', which is releasing on March 30, also stars Tabu, who plays a cop in the film. Tabu said she boarded the cast of the movie with full faith in Devgn, her frequent collaborator and friend.

''I entered this film with my eyes closed. I knew I had to do a lot of action, he made everything easy. I knew I had to completely surrender in front of him. I can trust him and that he will sent me home scratch free,'' she recalled.

Such was the trust of the actor in her ''Bholaa'' director that she went in without any preparation for the action sequences.

''Ajay and the action team worked hard and made things easy for me. They have expertise in action that I don't think anyone else has. I did whatever I had to on basis of their instructions... I don't think I ever thought I will be able to do this level of action and I want to thank him,'' she added.

After ''Kuttey'' and her upcoming Netflix film ''Khufiya'', ''Bholaa'' is yet another film in which a character's gender was flipped so that Tabu could be cast in the role.

''I feel very proud about this character and the fact that I was chosen for this role. For me, it is a step up and a progress in terms of the characters, like when we see this lady cop, she is injured and despite that (she continues). Like, during the entire film, I have worn a sling and hence doing action was all the more challenging. I didn't have support of my both hands to do action and to run. This character in the original film was played by a male actor...'' Devgn, who is wielding trishul in the film, said he responsibly filmed scenes involving the trishul.