Throwback Thursday: When Ajay Devgn-Rohit Shetty talked about 'class system' in Bollywood

Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty make one of the most successful actor-director combos in Hindi cinema. Out of the fourteen films directed by Rohit, twelve featured Ajay including the four films in his comedy series 'Golmaal' and the four films in his cop-universe starting from 'Singham' in 2011 to 'Sooryavanshi' in 2021.

It was in 2014 before the release of 'Singham Returns' when the duo talked about the class system in the Hindi film industry in one of their promotional interviews. While interacting with Film Companion, while referring to the message that Ajay gave to Rohit on Karan Johar's chat show 'Koffee With Karan' in 2011 where he said, "I am so happy that people who abused your kind of movies want to work with you now", the actor and the filmmaker were asked if a class divide exists within Bollywood.

The 'Tanhaji' star denied having faced this issue, adding that he has heard people saying 'Golmaal' is trash cinema, and later, the same people have gone on to sign Rohit to direct films for them with the realisation that they need trash cinema to survive in the industry. 

The filmmaker, who also hosts the popular stunt-based reality show 'Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi' on national television, further stated that he doesn't has any arrogance or ego about his work and he feels that he is catering to his audience. Rohit even mentioned that people are joining him and saying, 'Okay, he is not doing anything bad. He is not a bad guy', adding that the elite crowd thought of him as the bad guy comparing himself to Amitabh Bachchan of 'Deewar', those people to Shashi Kapoor, and the critics to Nirupa Roy from the 1975 cult film. Rohit concluded that he is happy being Amitabh Bachchan, the bad guy, at the end of the day.

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Last year in November, Rohit Shetty's 'Sooryavanshi' revived the box office in India earning close to Rs 200 crores when the theatres were finally opened across the nation after two years due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown. He and Ajay have already hinted at the next film in their cop universe 'Singham 3', though no official announcement has been made yet.