Ajay Devgn: I can vouch for the entire industry ' we don't remember our religion on set

The festive season is usually about celebration and reconciliation and all those things. But the Diwali release season for Bollywood has been marked by edginess, sharpness, allegations and controversy ' and it goes on and on. Nothing festive about it. The upcoming films are being discussed for the personal and political takes of the people making them, hardly for their content.
The problem is that sab ghoom phir ke isi issue pe aate hain. Film ke baare mein baatein hatt jaati hain. That's not good. That's terrible. We spend years in making films and suddenly the chatter has shifted to something else.
In a very skewed way, Fawad Khan is dictating the discussion over your movie.
Yes, and that is very sad. But this is not created by any of us. Dedh saal humne controversy pe kaam nahi kiya hai, picture pe kaam kiya hai.

Some would say you got into controversy by taking positions and talking about issues not related to the film ' so you can't really say the discussions have nothing to do with you.
But that (working with Pakistani actors) is a different stand, and the film is a different stand. Maine stand liya par maine saath mein yeh bhi kaha ki joh filmein ban chuki hain unko harm nahi hona chahiye. Unki toh koi galati nahi hai. I said I am happy that Pakistan waalon ne stand liya hai. Jab waqt aata hai toh you have to stand with your nation. I hope that this gets resolved and we can start working together again. Par tab tak humein bhi apne desh ke liye stand lena chaiye. Aur joh maine bola, aaj sab wahi apply kar rahe hain. IMPAA ne bhi yahi resolution pass kiya hai. Jab tak problem solve nahi hoti tab tak kaam nahi karenge. Aage kaam toh karenge, kaam toh karte hi aaye hain unke saath. I have said often that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ki last album was for me, aur meri life ka best music unhone diya thaa, 'Kachche Dhaage' ka. Talent is everywhere, yes, we need to work together, yes ' but the scenario today is different. Meri film mein bhi itne saare foreign actors hain. Problem woh nahi hai. Nation ka ek mood hai ' it's about listening to it.
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Isn't the industry taking clear political lines with increasing frequency? This wasn't the case, say, five years back. People campaigned clearly, for instance, along pro-Modi and anti-Modi lines. Some filmmakers know they will be welcomed at JNU, others know they will be booed. Social media every other day sees names from Bollywood fighting over whether the ruling party's position on something is right or wrong.
Yes, but all those people you are referring to ' they have directly or indirectly joined politics. That is not the acting part of them. That is the political part of them. But the rest of the industry has not joined, na. Aap jinki baat kar rahe ho, they are in a way part of one party or another. Most of us will not take any political stand.
Humare desh mein bahut mushkil ho jata hai stand lena. Not because the audience will get polarized, but because we are very vulnerable. In the US, you can take a clear stand politically, but your work is not impacted, you will not be pressurized. Yahan stand lene se hum dartein hain. Aur darenge bhi. Agar har aise issue mein aadmi fasega, toh phir kaise stand lega?
So you are saying that you aren't on a political line, and your taking a patriotic stand - such as your post-Uri position on Pakistani actors ' is different from taking a political stand?
Yes. Yeh dono alag cheez hain. Talking for the country doesn't mean you are with the ruling party. With the country means irrespective of who the political party in power is, you are taking a stand for the country, which we all should take. But when you are talking politics, there cannot be any stand.
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So would Ajay Devgn go to JNU to promote a film tomorrow?
(Pause) That's a complicated issue.
Exactly. You have gone to colleges in Delhi before to promote your movies. Today, if someone suggests you could go to JNU, will you think twice, will they think twice?
Forget JNU, any political scenario, you wouldn't want to get into. You wouldn't want to take your film into something that is political. As simple as that.

A lot of what you have said and done recently tends to paint a picture, taken together ' you are quick to talk on Indo-Pak relations and ask why others don't, the odd critic sniping at you will say you are limiting your audience with the title of your film and the first song you released' you get the drift?
Yes ' but I'd like to remind everyone, sabse zyada Muslim characters maine hi play kiye hain. Sultan Mirza ('Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai'), Dawood ('Company'), 'Kacche Dhaage'. People still talk about Sultan Mirza. 'Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai' ke baad jab Eid aayi thi, articles chhape thay ki log dukan mein jaake bol rahe thay ki Sultan Mirza wala pathani chahiye.
So, it is absolutely not a religious stand. Agar aisi genuine problem hoti toh PK ko toh band kar dena chahiye tha. Par tab hum sab bahut khush thay ki it's fair, it's democracy. Par jab koi aur baat aati hai toh sabko lagta hai ki Hinduism ki taraf ja rahe hain. Why the double standard? Maine 'Zakhm' kiya hai. 'Zakhm' is a direct attack on' (pause).

Divisive politics?
Yes. Entertainment has no religion, ki ab Hindu audience ko andar karo with a tone or a title. Main kyun lose karna chahunga apni Muslim audience ko? Main har saal Ajmer Sharif dargah jaata hun and log kehtein hain agli release ke liye mannat maangne ja rahein hain. Ek hi wajah se jaata hun, meri life mein ek episode hua tha. I really believe that mere dono bachche wahan ki den hain. Ek bahut hi miraculous episode hua thaa that I don't want to talk about, it is too personal. Abhi jaunga after this film releases. Saal mein ek baar zaroor jaata hun, toh tab religion ka point kahan gaya? Allah ko maane ya Bhagwan ko maane ya Jesus ko maane ' you have all the right. In fact, in the industry, we practically follow each other's religion. During shooting, jab rozey chal rahe hotein hain ' and not just my set, 90% of the sets ' shaam ko iftaar ke liye lamba table lagta hai. Dus minute ke liye shooting roki jaati hai, sab apna roza kholte hain. Aur unke saath hum bhi sab baith ke khajoor khatein hain. Diwali hoti hai toh sab Diwali ki party manatein hain. This is not just my fact; this is the fact of the industry.
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In the current divisive track, may be people need to be reminded of this. If you read the last 30 days of discussion about movies, about Bollywood, you get a sense of sharpness rather than collectivity. Of people divided.
We are not. And I can vouch for the industry. Every person in the industry, I can vouch for. Humko apna religion nahi yaad. Chahe woh lightman ho, spotboy ho, actor ho, director ho yah top star ho. Hum joh bhi religious kartein hain ' ghar pe do minute, paanch minute joh pooja kartein hain ' uske alawa, humko apne set mein koi religion nahi yaad rehta. Humari hi ek industry hai jiske andhar religion ka kabhi panga nahi hua hai. Yeh main aapko stamp paper pe likh ke de sakta hun, poori country mein riots ho jaaye, humari industry mein Hindu-Muslim ka issue nahi hota. This much credit you have to give.Abhi mera gaffer Haj se wapis aaya. Mecca Medina ka paani leke aaya, woh maine ghar pe sambhal ke rakha. Jab woh ja raha tha toh maine kaha tha mere liye dua maangna, picture ke liye zaroorat hai. 'Shivaay' ko dua ki zaroorat hai! Usne teen baar mujhe paani pilaya, maine ghar bhijwaya, maa ko bola ise mandir mein rakh do. So what is the divide? Sabse zyada famous dialogue kaun sa hai mera ' dua mein yaad rakhna!