Ajay Devgn says only stars can’t be blamed for Bollywood’s underwhelming performance: ‘Stars bring credibility’ – The Indian Express

Actor Ajay Devgn, who had a slow year at the box office with Runway 34 and Thank God’s under performance, is back in the number-game with Drishyam 2 ringing the registers. While Thank God slipped into oblivion, Runway 34 got better feedback after its release on digital platform. However, this hasn’t prompted the actor-producer to release the film in theatres.
Ajay’s Drishyam 2 is the Hindi remake of Malayalam film by the same name. The film, which released on November 18, has entered the Rs 200 crore club becoming the third film after The Kashmir Files and Brahmastra to do so.
Talking about Runway 34, which was directed and produced by Ajay and a total nett gross collection of about Rs 33 crore , the actor said in an interview with Times of India that the success of the film on OTT made him feel partly vindicated. While he was happy as a filmmaker to have not failed the audience completely, Ajay does wish that the film had a good run at the box office. Ajay asserted that box office doesn’t matter and he won’t “consider (at least not at this stage) trying to re-release Runway 34 in theatres”.
 
 
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However, Ajay felt only stars are not to be blamed for Bollywood’s poor show this year. He said a film needs to be seen in ‘totality’ with its script, the stars, ensemble cast, crew and technicians coming together to make it worthwhile. He said only a great story doesn’t make a film a box office hit. While accepting that many films failed, he said it was not because the star-system has let them down. “We could have (I’m including myself also) failed to tell the right story with the right treatment and bring joy to an audience. Maybe as stars we had become complacent; maybe as makers we had started to take an audience for granted. There are many variables for success and there are many, many variables for failure. To pin-point that stars alone failed is incorrect. While a great story told well brings ‘joy’, seeing stars enact the roles also brings credibility to the table,” he said.
In Drishyam 2, Ajay reprises his role of Vijay Salgaonkar in the hit franchise, which is essayed by Malayalam star Mohanlal in the original film. While the two actor have shared screen space in 2002 film Company, the actor says that the possibility of the two of them working together future installments of Drishyam completely depends on producer Kumar Mangat Pathak. However, Ajay does assert that he has a lot of regard for the senior actor.
Ajay is now gearing up for the release of his next film Bholaa, which will be his fourth directorial. The film’s teaser released in November increasing the intrigue amongst the audience. Bholaa is the Hindi remake of Tamil blockbuster Kaithi, which starred Karthi in the lead role and was directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj.
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