Ajay Devgn on why he refused to do Indian 2 — Would have loved to work with Shankar but was busy with Taanaji

There have been constant rumours that Ajay Devgn was to take up the role of an antagonist in Shankar’s Indian 2, opposite Kamal Haasan’s moral vigilante. Though the rumours eventually died down, the Raid actor recently opened up about why he stepped back from Indian 2 .

“I would have loved to do Shankar’s movie, but I didn’t have the dates. He wanted to shoot the movie right now. [But> I am stuck with  Taanaji: The Unsung Warrior ,” Mid Day  quotes the actor as saying.

Devgn will make his debut in the South film industry with a cameo role in SS Rajamouli’s upcoming magnum opus RRR.

Devgn strongly contradicted news reports that he had denied working with Shankar as he had apprehensions portraying a grey character. “For an artiste, there are no shades of grey, black or white - the more layers you have in a role, the better it is. I loved doing movies like Khakee (2004) and Company (2002), where my negative characters were appreciated,” said Ajay. He later adds that at this point of time it will be impossible for him to say whether the character in Indian 2 was grey or not since he never took it up in the first place.

The publication reported a source as saying that Rajamouli approached Devgn with a crucial role for RRR. While the Baahubali director has already begun the first schedule of shooting with Ram Charan and NTR Jr, Ajay will come on board after completing work on Taanaji: the Unsung Warrior.