Ajay Devgn

Ajay Devgan
Born	Vishal Devgan
Occupation	Film actor
Years active	1991 - present
Spouse	Kajol Devgan (1999-present)
Children	Nysa Devgan

Vishal Devgan, Hindi:विशाल देवगन, born (April 2, 1969 in New Delhi, India), popularly known as Ajay Devgan is a National Film Award-winning actor who appears in Bollywood films. Beginning his career as an action hero in the early 1990s, Devgan matured quickly to become one of the most regarded serious actors of the Indian film industry. He is also a director debuting with U Me aur Hum in 2008.

Biography

Early life and career

Devgan is originally from Punjab, of Sikh Tarkhan Ramgarhia origin. His father is Veeru Devgan, a stunt choreographer and his brother, Anil Devgan, is a Bollywood film director. He is a graduate of bapu school in Juhu & Mithibai College.

His debut film, Phool Aur Kaante, in which he played the son of antagonist Amrish Puri, won him a Filmfare Best Debut Award. Many of his earlier movies were of the action genre and he worked with director Deepak Bahry on the action film Ek Hi Raasta opposite Raveena Tandon. However he soon began starring in comedy films such as Ishq in 1997.

From action to drama

He found great success in subsequent film. In 1998, he was the leading actor in Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha one of the biggest hits of that year. He next starred in Mahesh Bhatt's Zakhm. The film was highly acclaimed, as was his performance. He won several awards including the coveted National Film Award for Best Actor and Star Screen Award Best Actor.

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 and commercially successful. Devgan received a nomination for Best Actor at the Filmfare.

He married the successful actress Kajol on February 24, 1999. Their daughter Nysa Mukherjee-Devgan was born on April 20, 2003.

Devgan went on to be notably recognized for his association with filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, resulted in several successful projects, and was particularly noticed in 2002, with the drama Company, which earned him his second Star Screen Award Best Actor. 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 2004, he starred in several critically appreciated films, like Mani Ratnam's Yuva, Rituparno Ghosh's Raincoat, which did not do as well at the box office. In 2006, he played the title role in the critically acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello titled Omkara.

In 2007, Devgan starred in Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, which was the remake of the Indian cinema's landmark Sholay. The film was a major failure critically as well as commercially.

Devgan's first 2008 release, Halla Bol, was also not a box-office winner,, but Devgan's performance won appreciation from critics. Next came Sunday, which did average box office.

Devgan's directorial debut, U, Me Aur Hum, in which he starred opposite his wife, was released April 11, 2008.

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of Ajay Devgan's awards and nominations

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1991	Phool Aur Kaante	Ajay	Winner, Filmfare Best Debut Award
1992	Jigar	Raj Verma
1993	Dil Hai Betaab	Ajay
	Divya Shakti	Prashant Varma
	Platform	Rajoo
	Sangram	Raja
	Shaktiman	Amar
	Ek Hi Raasta	Karan Singh
	Bedardi	Vijay Saxena
	Dhanwaan	Kashinath
1994	Dilwale	Arun Saxena
	Kanoon	Vishal
	Vijaypath	Karan
	Suhaag	Ajay Sharma
1995	Naajayaz	Jay Bakshi	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Hulchul	Deva
	Gunda Raj	Ajay Chauvan
	Haqeeqat	Shiva/Ajay
1996	Jung	Ajay Bahadur Saxena
	Jaan	Karan
	Diljale	Shyam
1997	Itihaas	Karan
	Ishq	Ajay Rai
1998	Major Saab	Virendra Pratap Singh
	Pyar To Hona Hi Tha	Shekhar
	Sar Utha Ke Jiyo	Special Appearance
	Zakhm	Ajay R. Desai	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award, Winner National Award for Best Actor
1999	Dil Kya Kare	Anand Kishore
	Kachche Dhaage	Aftab
	Hogi Pyaar Ki Jeet	Raju
	Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam	Vanraj	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Hindustan Ki Kasam	Ajay/Tauheed
	Gair	Vijay Kumar
	Thakshak	Ishaan Singh
2000	Deewane	Vishal/Arun
	Raju Chacha	Sekar
2001	Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke	Vicky/Rohit
	Lajja	Bulwa	Nomianted, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
	Tera Mera Saath Rahen	Raj Dixit
2002	Company	Malik	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin	Raja
	The Legend of Bhagat Singh	Bhagat Singh	Winner, Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance, Winner National Award for Best Actor
	Deewangee	Tarang Bharadwaj	Winner, Filmfare Best Villain Award
2003	Bhoot	Vishal
	Qayamat: City Under Threat	Rachit
	Chori Chori	Ranbir Malhotra
	Gangaajal	Amit Kumar	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Parwana	Parwana
	Zameen	Col. Ranvir Singh Ranawat
	LOC Kargil	Lt. Manoj Kumar Pandey
2004	Khakee	Yashwant Angre	Nominated, Filmfare Best Villain Award
	Masti	Inspector Sikander
	Yuva	Michael Mukherjee
	Taarzan: The Wonder Car	Deven Chaudhary
	Raincoat	Manoj
2005	Insan	Ajit Rathod
	Blackmail	Shekhar Mohan
	Zameer	Suraj Chauhan
	Tango Charlie	Havildar Mohammed Ali
	Kaal	Kali Pratap Singh	Nominated, Filmfare Best Villain Award
	Main Aisa Hi Hoon	Neel
	Apaharan	Ajay Shastri
	Shikhar	Gaurav Gupta
2006	Golmaal	Gopal
	Omkara	Omkara "Omi" Shukla
2007	Cash	Karan/Doc
	Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag	Hirendra Chavan (Heero)
2008	Halla Bol	Ashfaque
	Sunday	ACP Rajveer Randhawa
	U, Me aur Hum	Ajay	Released
	Naam	Shekar, Michael, Amar Kumar
	Golmaal Returns	Gopal

External links

• Ajay Devgn at IMDb