Abigail Eames, who plays Ajay Devgn's daughter in Shivaay, shared a close bond with the actor-filmmaker during the shoot. In fact, on the last day, she got emotional and broke down as the filming was coming to an end.

BOMBAY TIMES (September 27, 2016)

BOMBAY TIMES (August 27, 2016)

Ajay Devgn calls Shivaay a risky shoot, but insists he was prepared for it
Upala KBR (DNA; August 11, 2016)


Explain the unique title: Shivaay.
It suits my character. It’s my name in the film. Shiva is the only God who is like a human being, Otherwise, all Gods are portrayed as perfect. Shiva has flaws – he gets intoxicated, smokes up, he gets mad... But he can be fooled, can reconnect — and that’s the human being of today. Though my character is a Shiv bhakt, I haven’t shown him praying or doing anything overtly religious.

Why Bulgaria?
In Bulgaria, the locations are tough, but there is access and infrastructure. If that kind of infrastructure was there at Mt Everest, I would have shot there, but there isn’t. Wahan pahunch kaisa sakta hai aadmi? Aayega jayega kaise? Toh problem hota hai bahut. Then there is -25 degree temperature in Bulgaria and we could get the right kind of equipment there. How would I save my unit if we didn’t have the proper shoes and jackets for -30 degree, freezing cold weather? It was a very risky shoot, but we were prepared for it and hats off to my unit. They stood there and made sure we completed the shoot.

The cold must have posed it’s own problems.
I got hypothermia once, but except for that incident, everybody was fine. We had doctors and ambulances on the sets. I was lucky to get some good weather there. If I was supposed to shoot for 60 days and I had light only from 9 am to 4pm, they said that the weather would be bad. I said it won’t be and true enough, whenever I would walk out of the hotel to shoot, the weather would be perfect with bright sunshine. We had kept buffers in planning to compensate, in case the weather changed, but we never needed those. For a 60-day shoot, we shot the film in 40 days and completed it before time.

Your trailer doesn’t reveal the story. Comment.
We want to create intrigue. That’s what people are talking out. My cousin said that “It’s so intriguing I want to know what’s coming next!” And this suspense will be there until the release. It’s not about the story, but about the screenplay. I want people to go and see the screenplay too. I am very lucky to also get the right kind of casting in Erika Kaar, Sayyeshaa and the little girl Abigail Eames. I would call the film an action-emotion-drama. My action is real, not unnecessary flying or hitting. In the trailer, when you see the expression on my face, it’s of pain when I am hitting people.

You haven’t revealed the villain in the trailer.
Yes, it’s a deliberate strategy to keep the suspense and intrigue intact. The villain is something we want to keep a secret till the very last minute — till the Friday the film releases. I know it’s unusual, but we don’t want to reveal the villain’s identity of the film. Every trailer released will keep the people guessing as there are lots of twists and turns in the film.

BOMBAY TIMES (February 22, 2016)

Ajay Devgn and British child actor Abigail Eames seen enjoying a break during the shooting of Shivaay. The actor-filmmaker is currently in Bulgaria shooting his second directorial venture, in which he plays father to 12 year old Gaura, essayed by Abigail. They seem to be chilling out as they pose with a snowman on locatoon.
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MUMBAI MIRROR (February 22, 2016)

This English rose is just 12, almost the same age as his daughter Nysa. And it is obvious that Ajay Devgn is having the time of his life playing reel life daddy to Abigail Eames in his second directorial, Shivaay. The fresh-faced Brit actress plays his daughter, Guara, a pivotal and performance-based role. While the action thriller marks her Bollywood debut, the actress is already a familiar face back home, having appeared as Issy Pettitt in the 2013 TV series, Lawless, which was a backstage pass to the inner working of a British court.

A year later she was a part of Harry & Paul's Story of the 2s, a spoof on the channel, its content and history by comedians Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse on BBC2's 50th anniversary. She was also seen as Gracie in Alleycats, a thriller set in the world of illegal bike racing, and made an impression as the defenceless little girl in the English tele series Doctor Who.

The film is currently being shot in Bulgaria, a gruelling shoot in difficult terrain. This weekend, they got a much-needed off from work and Ajay took the unit up the mountains for some ice-skating and snowboarding. Abigail and he also got themselves a bear hug. Awww!

DNA (January 4, 2016)


Abigail Eames, who makes her Bolly debut, plays Devgn’s daughter in the film. He wanted his on-screen daughter to have a pretty room like any girl her age and he asked for her room to be filled with pretty soft toys and dolls.

An insider from the production team reveals, “Ajay is paying attention to every little detail. So, when we had
to shoot in the girl’s room (Abigail), he called for more than 2,000 custom made stuff toys to make her room look extravagant.” As an actor, Ajay is known to go to extremes to get his act and character right. Now, he is using the same attention to detail as a filmmaker, too.”

Meena Iyer (BOMBAY TIMES; October 9, 2015)