Ajay Devgn Admits He Thought Parents Were Stupid Until He Became One

Ajay Devgn didn't mince words when he sat down with Bear Grylls in 2021. He admitted that for the first two decades of his life, he genuinely thought his parents didn't know what they were doing. "You think they are stupid. They don't know anything. You know everything," he said, describing the universal teenage arrogance that often blinds us to parental wisdom.

The shift didn't happen overnight. It hit him when he became a father himself. That's when the perspective flipped, and he finally understood that his parents' restrictions weren't about control—they were about protection. "Then when you have your own children, then you understand what parents are. They want the best for you," Devgn explained. It’s a brutal but necessary realization that many parents hope never to have to wait for.

But here’s the thing: you don’t have to wait for your kids to grow up to help them understand. Devgn’s reflection highlights a simple, actionable change for parenting today. Instead of defaulting to "Because I said so"—which shuts down conversation—try explaining the why. If you’re enforcing a curfew, say, "I’m asking you to be home by 10 because I worry about traffic safety." It takes ten extra seconds, but it gives the child a concrete reason to process, rather than just a command to rebel against.

Devgn also shared a sobering context for his own physical struggles, noting that his father suffered from Alzheimer’s and severe stunt injuries, including a head wound from real glass during a film shoot in the 70s. "Now we use toughened glass. It also hurts. But the real glass hurts a lot," Devgn noted, drawing a parallel to his own joint pain. These conversations matter because they humanize the figures we once saw as just parents.

So, next time your teenager rolls their eyes at a rule, pause. Don’t just repeat the order. Give them the context. They might still push back right now, but years from now, when they’ve seen the world, that explanation will click in a way a simple command never could.