Probably the most versatile actors of Hindi cinema, Ajay Devgan is also a National Film Award winner who has been able to make his mark from the very first movie he acted. Born on April 2, 1969, Ajay Devgan has matured himself, as an outstanding actor who is capable of doing any roles be it comic, intense or non-commercial. He is originally from Punjab. His father Veeru Devgan is a well-known stunt choreographer and his brother; Anil Devgan is a Bollywood film director. He graduated from Bapu School in Juhu & Mithibai College. He tied the knot with his contemporary co-actress and a very talented Bollywood actress Kajol who is also a well known and a successful actor in her own rights. The couple has one daughter, Nysa Mukherjee Devgan, who was born on April 20, 2003.
He made his debut with the commercial Bollywood flick, `Phool Aur Kaante` where she starred opposite to the very beautiful actress Madhu and portrayed the character of an antagonistic son of Amrish Puri. The movie won him the award of Filmfare Best Debut Award. Though in his initial stages, he mainly appeared in action-oriented films, however, he changed his trend towards comic flicks like `Ishq` along with the one of the most talented and perfectionist actor Aamir Khan, Kajol and Juhi Chawla. This was followed by the critically and commercially successful Bollywood flick like `Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha` in which he appeared opposite to Kajol.
Ajay Devgan next starred in Mahesh Bhatt`s `Zakhm` that was highly acclaimed and the silver screen audiences and the film critics appreciated his performance hugely. He won several awards including the coveted National Film Award for Best Actor and Star Screen Award Best Actor. Following the success of "Zakhm", Ajay Devgan saw further success in 1999 when Sanjay Leela Bhansali cast him opposite Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai for the film "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", which was again critically acclaimed and became a major box-office success. He received the nomination for Best Actor at the Filmfare.
He went on to do some more successful projects including Ram Gopal Varma`s "Company", which earned him his second Star Screen Award Best Actor Award. The year 2002 proved to be generally good for him, as his performance in Rajkumar Santoshi`s "The Legend of Bhagat Singh" won him his second National Film Award for Best Actor. In 2007, Ajay starred in "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag", which was the remake of the epic "Sholay" which was a failure in the box-office; however, he was able to make his mark with a strong and an intense performance.
Some of the other notable movies of Ajay Devgan include, `Dhanwaan`, `Sangram`, `Vijaypath`, `Major Saab` and so on. After portraying various roles in his acting career, he is now going to direct his first Hindi movie titled `U, Me Aur Hum` which is supposed to be produced by Kumar Mangat. He was nominated for the Best Actor for `Gangaajal` in 2003. His other landmarks include the nomination for Best Performance in a Negative Role for `Khakee`, which released in the year 2004 and for `Kaal` in the year 2005. He also won the award for best villain in the year 2003 for the movie, `Deewangee`.
A skilled and a thorough professional, Ajay Devgan has been regarded as one of the most serious actors in the Indian Film Industry and the Bollywood fraternity.
