Bollywood’s power couple, Ajay Devgn and Kajol Devgn have a wonderful bond and camaraderie that just leaves you wanting to know them better. For the fiesty, bubbly Bengali girl there is the calm and composed Punjabi Munda. With a bank of cult favourite romantic dramas like the evergreen DDLJ, family favourite K3G, heartwarming My Name Is Khan and the lovely KKHH, we just love to see Kajol on the big screen. And when it comes to action and comedy, Ajay Devgn has conquered the genres. His laugh riot Golmaal series, thrilling Singham series, nerve cracking Drishyam have left us yearning for more. We know a lot about their rich filmography over the years, but we really wanted to explore a slice of their lives, outside the silver screen. So Curly Tales had a heartwarming Sunday Brunch with Ajay Devgn and Kajol Devgn with our Chief Editor Kamiya Jani. From their ardent love for food, cute banter over travel preferences, we have it all for you. So read on to find out more.
Kamiya Jani (KJ): Are you both foodies?
Kajol Devgn ( KD): Definitely! We both are. That is really a bonding point.
KJ: So tell me this which cuisine is frequently prepared at your home, Bengali or Punjabi?
Ajay Devgn (AD): There used to be more of Punjabi dishes prepared at our place earlier. Typical Punjabi dishes were cooked at out place, made in desi ghee. Now most of us are on a diet.
KD: Dishes like Makki Ki Roti, Sarson Ka Saag, Aloo Ke Parathe were prepared at home earlier. Food was prepared with safed makhhan, desi ghee, we didn’t know the meaning of fats earlier.
KJ: So what’s prepared at your place now?
AD: Continental dishes are mostly prepared for me. Kajol is mostly on a diet.
KD: No, I have good food. I like my good food. So I will have Bengali fish curry, they have learnt to make Bengali fish curry at home. My mother came and taught the help at home to prepare Maharashtrian Kalvan. My mother-in-law and I love crabs. So when Ajay is not at home, we eat crabs together. We just spend 1.5 hours together eating crabs.
KJ: What do the kids prefer, Bengali or Punjabi food?
AD: My daughter eats Indian food.
KD: My daughter is Japanese.
AD: (chimes in) She lives on sushi and edamame. My son is a typical Punjabi. So I feed him everything. He wants his parathas, mutton, chicken. He prefers mutton over chicken, as he is a hardcore meat-eater.
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KJ: Ajay you cook, is that right?
AD: I used to cook. I don’t get much time now.
KD: He doesn’t get time. But he is a fantastic cook. I am a zero-cook. That’s why we get along so well, that’s why we’re married. If one cooks well, the other must eat, right? We have our pluses and minuses. Each one balances the other one out.
KJ: You’ve both been together for over two decades now. What is that one dish you’ll always order?
AD: It’s Chinese. When we order from outside, we always prefer to eat Chinese food.
KJ: When it comes to food experiments, who is more experimental?
KD: Me. I wouldn’t say I’ve tried scorpions and things like that. But I have tried almost everything.
KJ: So what’s the weirdest thing you’ve eaten?
KD: I don’t know if it’s weird. I think all food is good. But I have eaten snails. I love them. They were fab. I have had frogs, snails, I don’t know if that’s weird.
AD: I had horse milk. They give this to you in Russia to keep you warm. If you have too much of it, you get an upset stomach. If you drink it, your body temperature goes up by 10 degrees. You get very warm.
KJ: Do you both enjoy street food?
AD: Yes! I love street food.
KD: Yes! We do. I’m a big fan of Pani Puri, Bhel Puri, Vada Pav, the Chutney Sandwich, all that.
AD: During college, we grew up having Frankies.
KD: We both love that.
KJ: So what’s your favourite street food dish? And is there any particular food joint that you frequent?
KD: The one street food dish that we always have is Pani Puri. It’s one dish that we always have at home at least once a week. The kids love it, we love it. So we are all big Pani Puri fans.
AD: Even Chole Bhature. I love eating all that.
KJ: Recently we’ve seen a flurry of films about Maratha pride, what is the one thing you both liked about the film Tanhaji, which you both are doing right now?
AD: It’s not about Maratha. I have started a series called Unsung Warriors. Tanhaji is somebody who has sacrificed his life and done so much for the country. If he wouldn’t have been there, Aurangzeb would have taken over the whole country. That was the plan through Kondhana Fort. So he did not let, Aurangzeb, do that. And the sad part is such a big sacrifice for the country, and the whole country doesn’t know about it. He’s just become ‘log’. Shivaji Maharaj, people know. People do not know about Tanhaji. there are so many such unsung warriors all over the country.
KJ: It’s also after a good 12 years that you both are working together. U, Me Aur Hum was the last film that you guys did?
KD: Actually Toonpur Ka Superhero was the last film that we did. It was about 10 years back. My son was born that day.
KJ: I also work with my husband. And we sometimes have those moments where we say ‘Pyaar Karo Lekin Vyapaar Mat Karo’. Do you guys have such moments?
AD: No. I think it’s because on the set we are very professional. We just give our shots.
KD: ( chimes in) Also, we started out working together. So we started out being, first friends on set. It’s really comfortable. Our routine is already set. We didn’t have to introduce anything new into it. there was nothing extra we had to put into it. So working together was very comfortable. And still is. And much more so now today.
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KJ: Do you guys have any nicknames for each other?
KD: I call him Jay.
AD: And I call her Kajal.
KD: Our names itself are so short. How much more can we shorten it?
AD: People call her Kajol. I call her Kajal.
KJ: Kajol, you look like someone who is very social and likes going out. How do you both manage?
KD: I go out. He doesn’t.
AD: So then somebody can take care of the kids.
KD: We got out together a lot. We like to spend time with people that we’re comfortable with. So if I’m social also, I’m social with the people I really really comfortable with. I’m not the kind of person who will go to a party filled with 300 people that I don’t know. So that way, even I think I’m as anti-social as Ajay is.
KJ: What’s the coolest thing your kids have taught you off late?
AD: We learn a lot from them. From music to what to wear. When the comments come, they tell me that I look old and its time I change my dressing style, they keep telling me things.
KJ: Do they help you with captions for Instagram?
KD: No! According to my daughter, my captions are so weird that they can only come from me. She’s like ‘what are these captions, nobody uses them, nobody talks like that.’ I told her that at least they are original. That’s more than enough.
KJ: Do you guys like travelling, all of you?
KD: We do. We love travelling, all of us.
AD: We do travel twice a year.
KJ: Where was the last holiday together?
AD and KD in unison: We went to Italy, Austria and Germany.
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KJ: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I read this on Wikipedia that you’re one of the first actors to own a private jet.
AD: No. I bought one but then it sold it off. It was just not feasible.
KJ: Are you guys travel compatible?
KD: Pretty much. After so many years, we better be.
KJ: From the times you guys have been in the industry, there was a lot of focus on the craft. these days there are so many distractions about how you look, how your bodies are shaped and things like that. What do you have to say about this transition? And what do you think is really the crux of being an actor in today’s day and age? Is it more about how you look or is it more about the craft?
AD: It’s about the craft and always about the craft. In fact, earlier when I started, even with me, people said he is not conventional-looking, so it’s going to be tough. But today that has changed. Not just with me. You see the new actors, if they are fabulous, they work big time. So how you carry yourself, is very important. I’m 50 today. And because of the fitness regime, the kind of food we eat, health habits, I am being able to work today. I can do the action what I used to do at 29-30 even today. In the olden days, actors at 50 started looking old because of their lifestyle. That has changed today. We are still being able to work because of our lifestyle.
KJ: Kajol, this is the first time you are wearing a Nauvari Sari in the film, Tanhaji. Was it the most exciting part of the film, or how was it? Were there any challenges?
KD: You know the most exciting part of the film, is actually how everything turned out and how everything looked eventually. It took me 2 to 2.5 hours every day, to get dressed. And trust me, if you know my patience levels, that is ridiculous. I wanted to kill everybody. (shows a tiresome expression) Every other day I would think, do we really have to go through this? At the end of the whole thing, by the time we got all our jewellery set, I draped my sari, put it over my head, and I looked at myself in the mirror, I actually had a character who stared back at me from the mirror. And that is 50% of the battle won.
KJ: How is it managing kids, your acting career and everything?
KD: We’ve got a nice system in place now. And I have great a mother-in-law, sister, so everybody pitches in helps out. And I think that’s what family is all about.
AD: And Kajol at least doesn’t work so much, that she is out most of the time.
KD: I am touchwood at that place where I don’t have to work if I don’t want to. So I would want to work. I would like to work. But I also want to do it on my own terms and keep the balance. I really think that’s important.
First Published: January 13, 2020 2:58 PM