Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 2, 2017)


Ajay Devgn who reached Lucknow on September 10 to kick off Rajkumar Gupta's intense thriller, Raid, based on a series of headline-grabbing income tax raids in Uttar Pradesh, hosted a nightlong dinner party for the cast and crew on Friday. "It's been a rigourous last 15 days of shoot and Ajay, who plays a hard-hitting character, was in the mood to unwind before he heads back to Mumbai on October 4. After pack-up, he surprised everybody by announcing that it was time for some fun," reveals a source from the sets. An hour into the bash, the actor had everyone on the dance floor, including co-star Saurabh Shukla and producer Kumar Mangat. From retro tracks to racy pop hits and Bollywood chart busters, there was something for everyone on the playlist. A laughing Ajay occasionally got jiggy at the insistence of the team. Leading lady Ileana D'Cruz, however, missed the party since she had returned to the Bay earlier after wrapping up her portions. The usually shy and aloof two-time National Award winning actor-filmmaker's carefree, relaxed demeanour at the party took many by surprise after his intense performance, day in and day out. But last Friday, he let his hair down and everyone from the spot boys to the assistants got to hang out with Ajay.

"All the arrangements were personally looked into by him. It was one of the most expensive venues in the city and Ajay got the best caterers to dish out lip-smacking Awadhi cuisine. He himself indulged in some dessert at the end of the night," adds the source, saying several of the crew partied till sunrise.

Filmmaker Om Raut, who is helming Ajay's upcoming historical biopic, Taanaji - The Unsung Warrior, who was also present at the bash, clicked selfies with Ajay and was flaunting his new "main man", when he was summned by the host to the dance floor. Raid is Rajkumar's fourth directorial after Aamir, No One Killed Jessica and Ghanchakkar, and has been penned by Airlift and Neerja writer Ritesh Shah. Ajay's month-long stay in the city of Nawabs for the Bhushan Kumar, Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak co-production, in which he plays a no-nonsense income tax officer, has delighted his legion of fans who have been flocking to the set daily.

Many bureaucrats have also been visiting him between shots. A day before the party, Ajay spent the afternoon with Gaurav Dwivedi, vice-chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council, and later also met a team of politicians who had arrived with State General Secretary Sunil Bansal and producer-entrepreneur, Tarun Rathi. "This week he returns to Mumbai to join the promotional tour of Rohit Shetty's Golmaal Again with the ensemble cast before heading back to Lucknow in November for Raid," the source signs off.