by Subhash K Jha

It's confirmed. Ajay Devgan is stepping into the role of Veeru in Sholay. Originally done by Dharmendra, the part in Ram Gopal Varma's Sholay was offered to Abhishek Bachchan and then Saif Ali Khan. Both had to decline the offer for various reasons.

Now an old Varma favourite is doing it. Devgan who's done Company and Bhoot with Varma is now stepping into the coveted role. How would the known introvert play the extroverted Veeru?

Says Ajay, "I think Ramu has changed the milieu and my character to suit today's times. It works for me. My Veeru wouldn't be quite the same as it was earlier."

Before Sholay , Ajay plays Vishal Bhardwaj's Othello . "Yes, the film starts in January . We're shooting it at a stretch. I simply love the way Vishal has Indianized Shakespeare. He has placed it in a small town of UP. I think it's exceptional. I've already started thinking about how to play the character."

It will also be Ajay's first film with Kareena Kapoor. "We were supposed to do Rituparno Ghosh's Raincoat together."

Right now Ajay Devgan is looking at the release of two totally antithetical films and characters in Prakash Jha's Apaharan and John Mathew Mathan's Shikhar.

Says Ajay, "Prakash and I have worked in several films together. But it doesn't mean I've to be in all the films he makes. I wasn't there in his last picture on Jaiprakash Narain. It all depends on suitability . We get along. We understand each other. There's no doubt about Prakash's abilities as a director."

After Gangaajal , Ajay is again going into Bihar's politics with Prakash Jha in Apaharan . The actor says he was shocked when he read about the rampant kidnappings in Bihar.

"I only knew what I had read in the papers and seen in the news. I had done Gangaajal with the director, so I was familiar with his home turf. When Prakash Jha narrated the script to me I was shocked. The kidnappers treat their work just like you and treat ours. Everything is done so professionally. They almost have an official language and protocol for kidnappings....poora chai-pani tak ka hisaab banaate hain ..."

Whether it's Gangaajal ,Kaal or Main Aisa Hi Hoon, Ajay has been pushing the actor's envelope regularly.

"I learn so much from a director like Prakash. Such filmmakers help me to grow and understand myself and the purpose of cinema. ...Apaharan isn't a naach-gana film. But it's a hardcore entertainer. The kidnappings are just a backdrop. Basically it's an emotional father-son story."

"My character goes from ideological inheritance to thorough corruption and final redemption...I agree I've been getting some terrific roles. I guess I'm lucky. I just hear scripts, and go ahead and do what I believe in. I don't regret making mistakes. I learn from my mistakes. I never see any role as a risk. Apaharan is like any commercial film minus the songs...Even the item song starts as a song and merges into a scene."

Shikhar will find audiences with another Devgan."Looks-wise and concept-wise Shikhar takes me into another territory. It's about two characters who believe in differing ideologies. Again it's a real subject but a hardcore entertainer. My character doesn't believe in conventional definitions of right and wrong. "

"I worked with John Mathew Mathan for the first time. He knew exactly what he wanted, and how to get it. See, you go into every film with the same conviction. How it finally turns out is not up to the actor."

Apaharan and Shikhar to be followed by Raj Kumar Santoshi's Saamna will carry forward Ajay's reputation for doing hard-hitting socially conscious film. "These are what you call socially conscious films. All three are very different from one another. Then I've hardcore entertainers like Ramu's Sholay. I don't look at a film as purposeful or purposeless. I've just completed an out-and-out comedy called Gol Maal with Rohit Shetty."

"I also have another comedy which I'll be doing with Abbas-Mustan with Sanjay Dutt and Bipasha Basu. I'm very comfortable with comedy...I've done comedy with my wife (Kajol) in the cellphone ad as well. It's worked well. This is my second ad with my wife. But it doesn't mean we'll be working in all our ads together. I've just done an solo ad for a soda."

Ajay's versatility of roles is unique. "Everyone is talented. But they all want to play safe. My colleagues are doing what they like doing. I'm doing what I like. Main Aisa Hi Hoon failed. But I stand by it."