She does not suffer fools gladly, and has no patience with stupidity. And that's confession, Kajol-style, to explain why and how she is volatile and also perceived as just a little less dangerous than RDX!
But that apart, the gregarious and monumentally talented Kajol Devgan (to give her full name) is ebullient and a lot like most of her screen characters - intense, cheerful, fiery and energetic. She's done just four films in the millennium after a triumphant track record in the '90s, and come flops or hits, has delivered sledgehammer performances all the way from her 1992 debut Bekhudi to the 2006 Fanaa.
We meet up at the Devgan Films office on the eve of the release of her film U Me Aur Hum, which marks also the directorial debut of hubby Ajay, and Kajol gets into candid mode right away.
U Me Aur Hum
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Like we ask her if hubby Ajay always wanted her for this film and she answers, "As the script progressed, I realized that I wanted to do the film, so I said, 'I am doing this film!' and Ajay agreed that I would suit the role of the cruise liner stewardess best. The script is the most important part of a film and no one should compromise with that and force an actress in just for the sake of doing so, and I do not think that Ajay and his writers did that."
Kajol believes in Ajay's message in the film "that we must keep working on our relationships and how we usually stop doing that". Says the actor, "Love and relationships are not about one Valentine's Day in a year, and not just between husband and wife. The film is about three couples, each in a different relationship. Man creates his own problems, but no problem has ever been bigger than man."
How do Ajay and Kajol follow this? "You can't put a finger on anything, but yes, our relationship has grown with time and Nysa's arrival has given us one more common topic!"
Nysa of course is the center of their world today. Kajol wants to slow down on work (!) to spend more time with her and help her grow into a wonderful person. Ajay, she says, is a great actor and a terrific director but it is as a father that he is at his best. "He dances to Nysa's tunes, sometimes literally, as in when she puts on her favorite music!"
On Ajay as a filmmaker, Kajol reveals that he had always wanted to be a director. "Actually he got sidetracked into acting! But because he did, and since he evolved into a great actor, it has benefited him as a director too! He's given his 100% and more to the film as actor, producer and director. He was very clear on the sets, very professional and therefore very convincing."
