AJ gets fast and furious at 40! Rohit Shetty gifts Ajay Devgan a car on his birthday that he will also use in his film. This is a birthday gift for the actor who turns 40 today.
Car freakRohit has known the actor for the last 18 years. He was an assistant director in Devgan's debut film Phool Aur Kaante. He says, "Ajay is a car freak. He digs fast, stylish, sleek cars and loves driving. In Mumbai, he loves to drive his Swift while he drives himself to his Karjat farmhouse or even to Goa with his personal van following him. So this year, I decided to gift him a modified version of a Toyota Celica. The vehicle looks like a sleek racing car now. It was re-built and designed by VJ Rannvijay and my team. It took two and a half months to make."
Rohit states that he did not gift Devgan a new one because he wanted to give him something different. "Ajay has so many new cars. Earlier, he had a Maserati and Ferrari, now he has a Z-Class Mercedes and a Swift. There was no point in giving him a normal car as it wouldn't be of value to him. When I presented it to him last Sunday at Madh Island, where we were shooting for All The Best, he loved it!"
There is a twist to the tale. Laughs Rohit, "Though Ajay loved his gift, I loved the car more. In my film All The Best, Ajay's character modifies cars so we have plenty of vehicles in the film. But I liked Ajay's car so much that I told him he had to give it back to me to use for the shoot and since he's the producer, he had to agree!"
Rohit is known to blow up his cars in his films. Will he do the same here? "No. Though I intend blowing up 25 cars in All The Best, Ajay's car will remain safe. He has made me promise that not a scratch will come on it. He took me out for a drive on Monday but that was it. Ajay's become very possessive about his car."
When quizzed about the cost of the modification, Rohit says, "The bill is yet to come!"
Rohit also adds that Devgan's paperwork is in place for his modified car. When Vivek Oberoi had his car modified by Dilip Chabria, he had run into trouble. A modified car, according RTO records, is in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 because its body has been significantly changed and the engine tweaked.