'Rock star' Salman has no image in London Dreams

By Subhash K Jha

Ajay Devgan as a rock star strumming away the heated strings on stage is a hard a hard act to swallow.

Not for Vipul Shah who has cast Devgan as a rock-stadia musician in London Dreams. The gritty sweaty ambience, the riveting guitar licks, the angst- filled vocals and the screaming hysterical fans…Devgan goes through the rock motions in the film with elan.

Says Vipul, "So far we've only seen him in a sedate or comic image, never as someone who can cross the frontiers and do something outrageous."

Vipul hasn't quite converted Devgan in an outrageously punky rock star.

"No, not quite the reckless renegade. I've modelled Ajay's rock act on Bono, the Irish lead singer from U2. Bono was never your quintessential rock star. He had a more sober and a less wild image. When Ajay gets on stage in London Dreams he replicates the curbed tempered-down rock-star's image of U2. Yes, I modelled him on Bono."

Interestingly Salman Khan who started calling himself a 'rock star' even before the term was coined has no particular image in London Dreams.

"He plays a more improvisational musician whereas Devgan plays a more professional rock musician, " informs Vipul.

Vipul has already shot all the on-stage performances except one. "I wanted to see how the other stage performances look before shooting the last one. I was afraid they'd all look the same. But they've all come out differently. And Ajay looks like a rock star in the truest sense of the word."