Mere Action Hero

I love this man! OK, now that I have that out of the way I can begin this entry.



Ajay Devgan, like so many Bollywood stars with familial connections in the industry, is the son of Veeru Devgan, one of the biggest stunt coorinators in Bollywood. It's no coincidence,then ,that Ajay began his career doing action films. To this day, he's still considered an action star. But after breaking about half of the bones in his body, Ajay has strayed from action films and is, arguably, India's best actor today (he's won two National Film Awards, which are more prestigeous than Filmfare. SRK, for instance, has never won a national award).

Two things helped Ajay Devgan's turn from action hero to romance hero. The first was his role in Zakhm in which he plays the son of a woman who is brutalized outside of a temple by Muslim extremists. But this movie is complex, like the Hindu/Muslim divide in India, and Ajay conveys the intensity and seriousness of the political-religious issue with humility and sensitivity. The role earned him his first National Film Award.



Ajay's second right choice was in marrying Bollywood superstar (and my favorite BW actress) Kajol, just when the actress was at the height of her popularity. Though the actors have done five films together, nothing has been as popular as their recent pairing in commercials and magazine ads for Whirlpool and Tata Indicom, a cell phone company. Sales for both companies has significantly increased dramatically with the couples' presence.



Since Zakhm, Ajay's career has had its ups and downs, but Ajay continues to stretch himself both as actor and producer. I think he's best when he's paired with Aishwarya Rai (and even she has admitted he's her favorite actor to work with). They first starred together in the 1999 Best Picture, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and have most recently shared the screen in Raincoat, a quiet film about choices gone wrong and the inability to change the past.



Admittedly, when I first got into Bollywood, I thought Ajay Devgan was a funny looking man who had the extreme good luck in marrying Kajol. He's a bit of an acquired taste, I think, because he slowly intrigued me until I thought he was one of the handsomest men in Bollywood. There's just something irresistable about the softness of his voice, the complexity of his eyes, and the subtlety of his expressions. But if that doesn't do it for you, his acting speaks for itself.



My favorite Ajay films:
Ishq (1997)--with Kajol, Aamir Khan, and Juhi Chawla
Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha (1998)--with Kajol
Zakhm (1998)--with Sonali Bendre and Pooja Bhatt
Dil Kya Kare (1999)--with Kajol and Mahima Chodaury
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999)--with Aishwarya Rai and Salman Khan
Thakshak (1999)--with Tabu
Company (2002)--with Manisha Koirala and Vivek Oberoi
The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002)
Chori Chori (2003)--with Rani Mukherjee
Yuva (2004)--with Esha Deol
Raincoat (2004)--with Aishwarya Rai

**This ends the Bollywood profiles for a while. I'll probably be back with more in the future, as there are many more actors to profile, but I'll need to do a little more homework first. But Beth, rest assured, if I do nothing else, I will do a profile on the wonderfully adorable Akshaye Khanna.