Was waiting to explore horror genre again, says Ajay Devgn on 'Shaitaan'

Mumbai: Bollywood star Ajay Devgn on Thursday said horror and supernatural stories are among his favourite genres and he is thrilled to explore it again in "Shaitaan" after the success of his 2003 hit "Bhoot".

Directed by Vikas Bahl, "Shaitaan", is described as a gripping tale with elements of  black magic.

"It's not that we (superstars) don't want to do horror films. If we get something interesting, then why not?... I like this genre and I was waiting to explore it again. When I did 'Bhoot' we got a lot of appreciation after that I didn't get any script that was good in this genre," Devgn said at the trailer launch event of "Shaitaan".

The film also features south star Jyotika and R Madhavan. It is a remake of the 2023 Gujarati horror film "Vash", which was written and directed by Krishnadev Yagnik. Devgn said he liked the basic story of the original film and decided to make it in Hindi "The base of the story was very strong hence we did this film, and we adapted the film in our own way," he said.

"Shaitaan" features R Madhavan as the antagonist and Jyothika as Devgn's wife. Actor Janki Bodiwala, who starred in the Gujarati film, "Vash", also features in the remake.

When asked if Devgn and Madhavan thought about swapping their roles, Devgn said he wasn't keen to play the negative role as he connected the most with the emotions of a helpless father in the movie.

"When we started shooting, the first thing Maddy (Madhavan) told me was: 'Why aren't you doing this role, why have you given it to me?'. I told him, 'I really feel for the character of the father, so I will not be able to do justice to the other character. It's a stronger character though," the actor said.

Madhavan called Devgn a "sherdil" (braveheart) and 'Singham' of the industry for being kind enough to pass on the meaty role in "Shaitaan". "I can really hope and pray that I could do justice to the kindness that has been shown to me by Ajay sir and his team, I'm very thankful," he said.

Bahl, known for films such as “Queen”, “Super 30” and “Goodbye”, said he was "nervous" about making a supernatural movie, a first for him.

"The nervousness comes a lot from the fact that I've not done the genre before... Before we started shooting, I told my AD (assistant directors) team that we will learn how to make a film like this, we would watch YouTube videos, read interviews of other directors, and we used to look at camera work. It was almost like tuition classes. One day we were one day watching, 'Shining' (1980 English movie), as an example," Bahl said.

"As a storyteller, it's a great challenge to try new things, stay nervous all the time, hopefully qualify in different genres so that it opens up your world of storytelling," he added.

"Shaitaan” is produced by Devgn, Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak under the banner Ajay Devgn Ffilm and Panorama Studios, respectively. It is also produced by Jio Studios.

Kumar Mangat Pathak revealed that the team already has plans to make the second part of "Shaitaan".

"Shaitaan" will be released in theatres on March 8.