My fight not against Shah Rukh: Ajay Devgn
Mumbai : 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 told IANS.
“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.
