BOLLYWOOD AJAY DEVGAN The dark horse of Bollywood

mitabh Bachchan once called Ajay ences. He has the unique distinction of hav- director Mahesh Bhatt: “His very place Devgan the “Dark Horse” of ing bagged two ‘best actor’ National Awards. among the top stars was questioned because A Bollywood. But he is also proving to The low-key actor, who shuns publicity, is the he was the son of a stunt director and was be a winning tortoise with his slow and first choice of veteran directors like Rajkumar supposed to be good only in stunt roles. Ajay steady growth. He is on a roll. After a forget- Santoshi as well as Ram Gopal Varma. Son of was patient and proved them wrong.” table 2007, he has started off this year with a famous stunt director, Veeru Devgan, he dab- ‘Ishq’ came as a turning point. For the first bang. The intense actor, who is known for bled in direction and editing in a junior time, he was accepted in a non-action hero breaking the rules now and then, first capacity before being lured before the camera role. Then came ‘Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha’, and charmed critics with his power-packed per- for Kuku Kohli’s action flick ‘Phool Aur the big hit, ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, formance in Rajkumar Santoshi’s ‘Halla Bol’. Kaante’, which was a box office hit. ‘Jigar’, where his portrayal of the low-key, under- Now, he is trying to tickle the funny bone in ‘Vijaypath’ and ‘Divya Shakti’ were all action standing husband, received critical acclaim. Rohit Shetty’s ‘Sunday’. films, which had their own audiences. His work in films like ‘Zakhm’, ‘Company’, His roles in both the films are in complete Then came a lean period, when the fair- ‘Gangaajal’, ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’ contrast with each other. In ‘Halla Bol’, he is skinned aristocracy displaced Ajay. Observes and ‘Omkaara’ leave no doubt that Ajay is an actor-turned-activist, while he plays a cor- indeed the “dark horse” of the industry. rupt cop in the fun-filled action thriller Santoshi, who has done some of his best ‘Sunday’. Soon, the actor will turn director films with Ajay, is keen on making a film with ‘U Me Aur Hum’, scheduled to release based on emperor Ashoka and then cast him in April this year. in a mythological film based on the epic Once billed as the likely inheritor of the ‘Ramayana’. “I am sure people will be “angry young man” roles, immortalised by astounded by the way he interprets two com- Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay has always made a pellingly fascinating characters. Ajay is one conscious effort not to get typecast. He start- of the few leading men in the industry today ed off as an action hero with ‘Phool Aur who will some day become a valued charac- Kaante’, but is now regarded as a character ter actor,” says Santoshi. “One of Ajay’s actor. He is an actor who is just as convinc- strengths is that he can get under the skin of ing in brooding, macho roles as he is in any well-written role and make it his own. He comic capers. He is among the few stars who has sharp, expressive eyes. He appears to be have challenged the notion that the plain- very natural in all the challenging characters looking, not-so-fair actors cannot draw audi- he has played so far,” Santoshi adds. !

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