It's hard to pin him down. But with two high-profile releases Kaal and Main Aisa Hi Hoon releasing in two consecutive weeks, Ajay Devgan [Images] has no choice but to come out from his shell.

"Kaal has a very interesting concept," he says. "[Director] Soham has done a very good job. He had done his homework and was clear about what he wanted from his actors. It's hard to believe that this is his first film. Kaal is a murder mystery�and please, nothing like my Bhoot. It isn't a ghost film. I play a guy who comes to help these guys [Vivek Oberoi [Images], John Abraham [Images], Lara Dutta [Images] and Esha Deol [Images]] who are struck in a jungle."

Special: Showcasing Kaal

Ajay, who has worked in a few multi-starrers, claims that he never feels threatened by other actors. "It was fun! I do my own thing. Shooting with Vivek and John was a picnic. Vivek and I had worked together in Yuva [Images] and Masti. But John was a new experience for me. And certainly a pleasant experience."

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Recent career setbacks like Blackmail and Zameer have not deterred him. "It isn't really a setback," he says in his trademark drawl. "It's a phase. It has passed. These were old commitments. I couldn't do anything about their release. Some were done for the sake of friendship. I knew they wouldn't work. Chalta hai, it's all part of the game. I was prepared for the flops. Even during their shooting I would say it wouldn't work. I decided to let these film release together so I'd get the bad ones out of the way. I'm relieved they're done."

He adds, "The sad part is when a good film like Yuva doesn't do well. But what do you do? You pick up the threads and move on. But I'm very happy with Rituparno Ghosh's Raincoat, regardless of its box-office performance. I'll certainly do a film like Raincoat again if I'm excited by the script."

Quite a lot of variety here? "I don't believe in categorising cinema," he says. "Throughout my career, I've done the films I've believed in, regardless of their box-office potential. If I did a Company, I also did a Bhagat Singh. If I've a Kaal, I also have a Main Aisa Hi Hoon. The two films are completely different in content and my performance."

Ajay admits the 2002-2003 phase when he did films like The Legend Of Bhagat Singh and Gangaajal was exceptionally fruitful. "But now that favourable phase is back. Both Kaal and Main Aisa Hi Hoon are very special releases. I've never done such roles before. They're bound to get me noticed. Very often films don't turn out the way you think they would. But these two have turned out exactly the way they were meant to."

Your say: Will Kaal be a hit?

The actor says he was challenged by the idea of a playing a mentally challenged person. "I play a grown-up man with the brain if a seven-year-old in Main Aisa Hi Hoon."

He admits it is inspired by the Hollywood film, I Am Sam. "The idea is picked from there. But if you watch the two films, you'll see how different they are."

He admits he watched Sean Penn's [Images] award-winning performance as the mentally challenged father fighting for his child's custody rights in I Am Sam. "I really didn't want to see him. Then one day before we started shooting, I did. Sean Penn is brilliant. I've analysed his performance but did not copy him. It was impossible to follow him because the screenplay in Main Aisa Hi Hoon much more layered. In about 90 minutes, I Am Sam allowed Sean Penn just four or five expressions. Here, we have songs, comedy, the works. Indian cinema requires so much more. Even the language makes a difference. In Hindi, the dialogues sound more childlike. I've tried not to be excessively childish."

Ajay loves the challenge of playing varied roles. "I think audiences are ready for a change. I don't mind being a different kind of a hero. I've always attempted unconventional heroism. But let me add playing the conventional hero is fine by me, provided the script is extraordinary."

Now, Ajay has several projects to look forward to. "I'm finishing Prakash Jha's Apharan, which has turned out to be even more hard-hitting than his Gangaajal. I'm very happy with Apharan. Prakashji is in his elements. Then I've Rajkumar Santoshi's Samna with Aishwarya Rai [Images] and Akshay Kumar [Images]. Both films are based on socially relevant subjects, very real and gripping. I am also doing John Matthew Mattan's film with Shahid Kapoor [Images] which is half-complete. And yes, Raj Santoshi and I are working on another project which will hopefully be as interesting as Lajja, Bhagat Singh and Khakee [Images]."