Koffee With Karan 8: Ajay Devgn, Rohit Shetty Reveal How Their Dads Started Out - In A Gang, As A Waiter

"Today you go on social media, read so many things like nepotism etc but people don't realise that the generations have worked very hard," said Ajay

On Karan Johar's chat show Koffee With Karan 8, Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty talked about their fathers and their respective film journeys. Ajay Devgn shared how his late father and action director Veeru Devgan came to Mumbai and how he got into films. "He ran away when he was 13. He came to Mumbai without a train ticket. He was taken behind bars. He had no work so no food. Somebody helped him, said that you wash my cab every day and I will let you sleep in it. So, he started from there," Ajay Devgn said. He recalled, "He started from there and eventually became a carpenter. Then he became one of the gangsters in Sion-Koliwada area. He was a carpenter also and there were gang wars. One day a very senior action director, Mr Ravi Khanna, was passing by and there was this street fight going on. So, he stopped the car and called my dad after the fight and asked, what do you do? And he said I'm a carpenter here. So, he said one very good line, Tu ladta achha hai, come and meet me tomorrow and made him a fighter. So that's where he started from".

Rohit Shetty's father MB Shetty was a stuntman and action choreographer as well. The filmmaker revealed that he lost his father at a very early stage in his life. "Things were difficult. Till the age of 16, we had a lot of struggles. When I was 17, I joined him (Ajay)," he said. Speaking of his mom Ratna Shetty, the filmmaker added, "She was a stunt artist. That's how my dad and mom met. After he passed away, there was financial crisis. So she worked as a junior artist and after that when I grew up, it is a proper blockbuster story."

Recalling his father's journey, Rohit Shetty said, "He was in Udupi. He was 13 when he came to Mumbai. He was a waiter in Cotton Green, in a restaurant and from there he started. Then he started boxing and bodybuilding, and then obviously, because he was well-built, 6'3, someone gave him an idea why don't you try in movies. And then he joined...Senior to Ravi Khanna Sir was one action director of black and white movies called Azim Bhai, so he joined him and gradually he became fight choreographer."