Actor Ajit started as a hero in Hindi cinema. On Rajendra Kumar's advice, he tried playing a villain in Suraj and found success. Discover Ajit's transformation in this vintage Lehren interview.
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00:00 The tradition of that time was that the person whose film is a silver jubilee is called a hero.
00:08 And if he has done a good job, but if the film is not a silver jubilee, then he is an unlucky artist.
00:17 You scoundrels, you did a little work which we got. You became enemies of that too.
00:23 If I make one happy, I hurt the other. So I thought it is better I should retire.
00:30 Cut his hand and dip it in the paint. When the police will catch him, they will catch him red-handed.
00:45 Brother, as I said, if after working in 89 films, after being a hero for 20 years,
00:55 if you say that I did not make my place, then there is a reason for that.
01:00 The reason is that I was a little soft in the matter of singing,
01:06 because my face was not of a chocolate type that I would sing by roaming behind my heroine and behind the tree.
01:15 And besides Nargis ji, I have worked with all the top heroines.
01:24 And the good movies.
01:27 Now the tradition of that time was that the one whose film is a silver jubilee, is called a hero.
01:38 And if he has done a good job, but if the film is not a silver jubilee, then he is an unlucky artist.
01:47 But anyway, take it. But till now, being alive in this line and going back after 40 years,
02:00 and then coming back to serve you people, then you understand that no one, I mean, does not let you stay here.
02:09 And this is a river of fire and you have to drown in it.
02:14 And anyway, someone has said that sir, no matter how big a hero he is in the world,
02:27 after a few years he starts to get bored.
02:31 So I thought that sir, it shouldn't be that I start getting bored before this.
02:37 We had a very good friend, poor friend, Mr. Rajinder Kumar.
02:44 Mr. Rajinder Kumar gave me advice that look, sir, the thing is that now the age of color has come
02:53 and very expensive movies are being made.
02:56 So now no one will give you the chance of a hero.
03:00 So there is a movie that we are making in Madras, a very good movie, which is called Suraj.
03:08 And in which I am the hero, Vijayanti Mala is the heroine and you have the role of a villain.
03:16 And if you do it, then I will feel very comfortable.
03:19 Because it was a short film, and we were good at this matter.
03:27 After that, consider that this era started after 1966.
03:35 And the interesting thing was that when people found out that I was doing a villain in Madras,
03:41 then all the 2, 4, 5, 6 movies I had, black and white, as a hero, they came running to me.
03:48 Sir, what will happen to us? We are dead, we have gone to work.
03:52 So I said, brother, think about one thing, it will take 1.5-2 years to make this movie.
03:58 And after that, slowly your movies will end after a little bit.
04:04 But let me also think a little about my future.
04:08 I wanted a new book of accounts to start in life.
04:13 So sir, it started. The movie was released. The movie was a hit.
04:19 Now after that, we will say that sir, what was the reaction of the people?
04:25 One of our deceased friends, God gave him peace.
04:34 When it premiered in Minerva, he was sitting down and he saw me a lot.
04:41 When I got down in the interval, he saw me a lot.
04:45 And these were his words, I apologize for the insult.
04:50 He said, you scoundrels, you left a lot of work that we used to get.
04:54 You became enemies of him too. Now he used to do the villain in it.
04:58 So friends, I laughed, I said, brother, I have done it in one movie,
05:04 you have worked in so many movies. And see what happens, I don't know.
05:12 So this was the reaction of all the colleagues.
05:16 You have always been an actor with a very stylish acting.
05:22 Is that the real look to you or something you have done only for the film?
05:28 I am a very stupid kind of a man.
05:35 But while living in Bombay, while meeting some people,
05:43 I met some people who saw their style, their white hair, their dresses, etc.
05:55 and wanted to see if this is the situation of the villain in this way.
06:02 And a movie that became very famous, because of which I started saying dialogues,
06:12 that movie was, what is the name, Zanjeer.
06:18 And actually the name that was given to me, Dharam Teja,
06:23 so coincidentally I met that gentleman in a party.
06:28 And I saw that he is such a cool and calm man,
06:35 and a very strong case was waged against him at that time.
06:39 But there was no difference in talking to that man,
06:48 and he spoke very calmly and sweetly.
06:53 So I felt that if I copy his name in this movie,
07:01 it would be very good.
07:04 Coincidentally, that movie changed the fate of many people.
07:11 Director, producer, hero, writer, and my fate was also changed.
07:21 After that, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 movies were continuously hit.
07:27 And people accepted me as a villain.
07:33 And today, even after so many years, I have come.
07:39 So you think that if a man comes back after 7-8 years,
07:44 then maybe this will be the first such incident of the industry,
07:51 that a man comes back and is taken away by force.
07:54 And so much love and affection people showed,
07:58 that I felt that an individual from his own house
08:03 has gone away in anger, and then came back,
08:06 so the way people love him.
08:09 There was a screen party,
08:11 in which Dev Sahab said, "How can you leave us?
08:15 We are your family, and you shouldn't go here and all."
08:20 So I really thought that Dev Sahab is very much right.
08:24 And I felt very happy that I have come back to my family.
08:31 And now you will say that why did I go?
08:36 The reason for leaving was that in our film industry,
08:42 the ill-manneredness had increased so much,
08:47 that the poor producer used to say to me,
08:51 "Mr. Ajit, if you come at 10 o'clock,
08:55 then you will see that your first shot will come."
08:58 I said, "Okay, I will come, sir."
09:01 Poor our makeup dada, he was also very particular,
09:05 he had a beard, moustache, and wig,
09:08 and now he is sitting in the mirror, looking at his face.
09:11 It was found that the artists who were with him,
09:14 they did not come.
09:16 Now the poor guy would run and the assistant would come,
09:20 and he would say, "We have taken a break at 12.30,
09:24 if we take an early break, they will come by 2.30."
09:27 I said, "Okay."
09:28 Now he sat and kept looking at his face,
09:31 read the book, played cards, everything.
09:35 Now it was found that he came at 4.30-5.00.
09:39 And there is another shift from 7.00,
09:43 and the producer of the second shift is also very strict,
09:46 SK Kapoor.
09:48 He said, "How can this be?"
09:50 I said, "Mr. Kapoor, it is such that I will finish his work."
09:53 He said, "How can that be?
09:55 I have Hemamalini, Shashi Kapoor with me."
09:57 He said, "And I will not leave you, understand."
10:00 I said, "Brother, you decide."
10:03 So when such incidents happened many times,
10:06 I felt that if I make one person happy,
10:10 then I hurt the other.
10:12 So I thought it is better I should retire.
10:16 Because now, it may be that before I start boring people,
10:21 if I leave, it is very good.
10:23 So according to this, I went back.
10:26 Now you will say, "Sir, what is the reason for your return and how did you come?"
10:32 So sir, I did not come, I was brought.
10:36 I thought that maybe I am not a stubborn person.
10:40 But I felt that there is another person more stubborn than me,
10:45 whose name is Saleem Akhtar.
10:47 Okay, this decent man, I worked in his first film,
10:52 "Kyoron ki baraat".
10:54 After that, he made many films and in every film,
10:59 he offered me some role and I used to say, "No brother, let me go."
11:06 But I am sure that whenever he slept,
11:14 although he does not sleep much at this age, but whenever she used to come,
11:18 then it used to happen that such dreams used to appear that,
11:24 "Sir, I am doing shooting, today I am with him, tomorrow with him,
11:30 sometimes with Amitabh, sometimes with Jalinder, sometimes with Rajesh Khanna and this."
11:35 So this thing started haunting me.
11:39 After that, I started playing cards in the club,
11:42 I used to roam around on the farm, a lot of things.
11:45 But still I feel that one thing that was embedded in my blood,
11:52 it repeatedly demanded that,
11:55 "No, what you are doing, nothing will happen with it."
12:01 And during that time, when this time Saleem spoke very strongly,
12:07 then I said, "Okay brother, let's go."
12:10 But I kept some conditions.
12:12 See, that man's greatness, I said, "Brother, I will go, these are my conditions.
12:17 I will do the work for two days and see.
12:20 And if I am not able to do it, because I don't know what will be my position,
12:26 then I will run away, you will not feel bad."
12:29 That man said this.
12:32 He said, "Sir, maybe you don't have confidence in yourself,
12:37 but we have confidence in you.
12:40 That's why we want to take you."
12:43 So really, I felt that there are still people
12:50 who have confidence in someone and can take such a big risk.
12:55 I said, "Very good, let's go."
12:58 And coincidentally, when I started working,
13:01 it felt like it was yesterday, I have not forgotten any lesson.
13:06 I remember all the ABCD.
13:09 So the work started.
13:12 And thank God I finished that movie.
13:15 Then after that, they said, "When you have finished this,
13:19 then do the second one, Jigar."
13:22 I said, "Okay, let's do that too."
13:24 Now that they have come, let's start.
13:29 So I did their movie too.
13:32 After that, two or three more producers came,
13:36 who were very reasonable.
13:38 By the way, I heard so many stories,
13:41 during this period, people understood that,
13:44 like our film industry has a demand,
13:47 and it has always been from the beginning,
13:50 and all the journalists and paper people,
13:54 I am grateful and grateful to them,
13:57 that they gave me so much publicity,
14:00 I could not even imagine.
14:02 Then when people came to know,
14:05 they ran away.
14:06 Then I came to know that,
14:08 a new story was coming every day.
14:10 I said, "I have done this work, how is it now?"
14:13 "Is this the same story?"
14:15 They said, "No, sir,
14:16 the stories you make these days,
14:18 they are all the same.
14:20 There is nothing new in it."
14:22 I said, "Forgive me, I cannot do these things."
14:26 You asked, "Sir, how do you feel,
14:28 when your dialogues are repeated,
14:31 and after that,
14:33 you must be watching on TV,
14:36 that in this and that Maggie,
14:39 and in that,
14:40 old memories are fresh,
14:45 and this is not the same.
14:47 Now people have made some jokes,
14:50 they are called Ajit's jokes.
14:53 A boy was our friend,
14:54 he had come from America,
14:56 he was our son's friend,
14:58 we had a little chat.
14:59 He said, "Uncle, Uncle,
15:00 you have not heard this joke?"
15:02 And till that time,
15:03 I did not have any thought of coming to the film.
15:05 I said, "No, son."
15:06 He said, "After leaving the film line,
15:08 you had a passion for cricket,
15:11 and you started playing cricket.
15:13 And you are representing India,
15:16 and you went as an opening batsman.
15:21 And on that side, Imran Khan,
15:22 you got out on the first ball.
15:25 So, you walked to the umpire,
15:27 and you said to the umpire,
15:28 "Make it a no-ball,
15:29 by looking at him."
15:32 He said, "Yes?"
15:33 I said, "Make it a no-ball."
15:35 He said, "Don't be silly."
15:37 I said, "Make it a no-ball,
15:39 think it over."
15:41 He said, "No, you are out."
15:43 Then I looked at the crowd,
15:45 and I said,
15:46 "Robert, show him his wife and children."
15:49 Then the umpire said,
15:50 "It was a no-ball."
15:52 So, these sort of jokes were there.
15:54 I mean, you feel happy
15:56 when you hear all these things.
15:58 Even some good papers,
16:03 they have given all the jokes about me.
16:06 "Cut his hand,
16:09 and dip it in the paint.
16:13 When the police will get him,
16:15 when the police will catch him,
16:16 they will catch him red-handed."
16:18 "And then put him in another case,
16:23 and get him out of that one."
16:25 There are many such people.
16:27 So, these sort of jokes were made.
16:30 So, sir, it is a joy
16:33 that whatever I have done for so many years,
16:35 I have got some reward for it.
16:37 And it is the same,
16:38 that you tell me,
16:39 how many people are there in the world
16:41 who have not received anything
16:46 that they have got some happiness,
16:49 or they have got some reward,
16:51 like Michelangelo,
16:52 and these big artists,
16:54 and all these people.
16:55 Sir, they become popular after their death.
16:58 My wife had said something very nice.
17:00 She said,
17:02 "Sir, you are very lucky
17:06 that when you came back,
17:08 people came to know,
17:10 and people come from morning to evening,
17:12 journalists, etc.,
17:13 take your interview.
17:15 Otherwise, it would have been like,
17:17 after you,
17:18 children would have come and asked,
17:19 "How was your father?"
17:21 "And how was your treatment with them?"
17:23 "What kind of talks did they have with you?"
17:26 So, thank God,
17:27 that you are there,
17:28 so everything is being asked from you.
17:30 (Music)