Baadshaho: Movie buffs meet the ‘badass’ team of Ajay, Ileana, Emraan, and Esha

It’s an action-packed afternoon when the star cast of Baadshaho visits Hindustan Times House to meet and greet fans — from sharing film shoot anecdotes to shaking a leg, they give it everything.

From dancing with their fans to revealing tid-bits from their film’s shoot, the team of Baadshaho, which releases on September 1, won over the crowd on their visit to Hindustan Times House, in central Delhi, on August 29. The cast members — Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Ileana D’Cruz, and Esha Gupta — and the film’s director Milan Luthria were here to interact with the winners of the HT City Stars in the City contest.

Actors Ajay Devgn and Ileana D’Cruz at Hindustan Times House to meet the winners of HT City Stars in the City contest. (Photo: Shivam Saxena/HT)

“Badass… that’s the vibe of the film”, said Milan, adding that he had created a “dark, edgy space” here because he didn’t like “goody, goody cinema”. Each actor spoke of what they felt was special about Baadshaho. The film is set in Emergency era Rajasthan, its plot centred round a heist.

L-R: HT City editor Sonal Kalra moderated the discussion with actors Ajay Devgn, Ileana D’Cruz, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta, and Baadshao director Milan Luthria.

Ajay, who plays a loyal fellow named Bhavani in Baadshaho, was asked if he had any problem switching between filming this action thriller and an upcoming comedy. He replied, “You’re not an actor if you stick to only one genre. I’ve been very lucky — whenever I’ve tried to do different genres, they’ve all been accepted by my audience.”

Emraan Hashmi made a die-hard fan’s day when he gave her a hug.

Emraan autographed personalised tees that his fans had got for him.

Emraan added, “Baadshaho is not just any other heist film, which is just slick with no substance. The film that hits that sweet spot between mass and class will draw in the audience.”

Ajay Devgn and Ileana D’Cruz answering questions asked by winners of the Stars in the City contest.

Esha was excited about her stunts in Baadshaho. She said, “Yesteryear actors such as Rekha did action, too, in their films; after a while, it just got lost somewhere. My character Sanjana is someone who will do any job that needs to be done. Ajay had announced me as the ‘bombshell badass’ when my poster for the film was released!”

Ileana set the dance floor on fire when she grooved to the song Mere Rashke Qamar with this fan.

Ileana also hit the dance floor with a fan and grooved to the popular song Mere Rashke Qamar from Baadshaho. When asked which character from the popular show Game of Thrones would she love to play, Ileana surprised everyone by confessing that she hasn’t watched the show yet!

Esha Gupta shares a light moment with Baadshaho director Milan Luthria.

After Milan revealed that Ajay and Emraan were the easiest actors to work with on the sets, Esha added that it was the camels who had thrown the most tantrums!

A fan even gifted sketches of Ajay, Emraan, and Milan to them.

About choosing the word “badass” to capture the essence of Baadshaho, Milan said, “I don’t like goody-goody cinema. There was some resistance from the marketing team of Baadshaho when we told them [about] the title and vibe of the film. They said it might not be liked by the public and the posters would not be received well. But we’re fortunate — not only has the response been very good, but it also has been made clear that the larger the canvas, the larger the audience.”

Follow @htshowbiz for more