It all began in 1991, when an average-looking man who could perform some nail-biting action scenes entered the film industry with Phool Aur Kaante. People felt that he won’t be able to last in the industry. It’s a pretty well-known fact that looks play a very important part in the industry, so an average looking man trying to carve his own niche was an uphill battle for sure. Yes, we are talking about Ajay Devgn, an actor who despite all odds, managed to hold his own. As he turns a year older today, we take a look at his wonderful journey in Bollywood so far – 

Ajay began his journey in Bollywood with Phool Aur Kaante. In the movie, he was seen performing a split while balancing on two motorcycles. His debut film was a definite statement in what the action genre could be. His first shot featured him in a full split between two motorcycles. It was both outrageous and stylish. It was the kind of aesthetic no one had thought of in Hindi films. Hollywood action heroes like Jean Claude Van Damme used to do it, but it was Ajay Devgn who brought the style to Indian action movies. This seen became extremely popular and we also have seen a similar rendition of this concept a few times in the hit Golmaal series. Ajay Devgn also bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Debut (Male) for his performance in the film. Ajay Devgn plays the role of Don Nageshwar’s (Amrish Puri) son. In the movie, he is shown to be very familiar with his dad and his business. His wife, Pooja (Madhoo) is aware about them too, and wants to put a stop to these activities. Nageshwar feels Ajay should take over his business since he was getting old. Ajay does so, however, a number of Nageshwar's associates are unhappy, embittered, and critical of this choice, and as a result they, under the leadership of Shankar Dhanraj kidnap Ajay's baby son, Gopal. The movie was a treat for all action lovers and also went a long way in setting the tone for Ajay’s action hero image. Jigar was his next film in which he was seen opposite Karisma Kapoor. The movie featured Ajay in martial arts fights and a story arc reminiscent of Bloodsport and Kickboxer (Van Damme’s early films). It even featured Bollywood legend, Ajit in Sensei mode, training Ajay in martial arts like Master Miyagi from Karate Kid. The movie went on to become the 7th highest grossing film in the country that year. 
Ajay Devgn received critical acclaim for the first time in 1998 for his performance in the film Zakhm, which was directed by Mahesh Bhatt. He also went on to win the National Film Award for the Best Actor. In 1999, he was seen in Hum Dil Chuke Sanam. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is regarded as the turning point of Ajay Devgn’s career. The film was an adaptation of Maitreyi Devi's Bengali novel Na Hanyate, it was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and co-starred Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai. In the movie, he played the role of Vanraj, a man who is trying to re-unite his wife with her lover. Ajay’s performance in the film was appreciated by the audience as well as the critics and he also earned a nomination for the Filmfare Best Actor Award. After this, he was seen opposite Kajol in Anees Bazmee's second film, the romantic comedy Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, a remake of the Hollywood hit French Kiss.
In the film, Sanajana (Kajol) was Rahul’s (Bijay Anand) fiancé. Rahul visits India on a business trip, where he gets attracted to Nisha (Kashmira Shah). He decides that he will marry her. Obviously, Sanjana does not digest this well and hopes that Rahul will change his mind. In a attempt to win him back, Sanjana hires Shekhar (Ajay Devgn) to pretend as her boyfriend hoping that this would make Rahul jealous. Sanjana and Shekhar end up falling for each other as they spend more time. The film was the third highest grosser of 1998 and was a super hit at the Box Office. 
In the year 2000, Ajay Devgn started a production house under his own name. Raju Chacha was his first venture as a producer. The movie was about a man named Siddhant Rai (Rishi Kapoor), a single father, who had the responsibility of looking after three children. Siddhant had a massive business empire, so the four of them always lived a comfortable and luxurious life.  But, things take a turn for the worse as Siddhant passes away in a car accident. Siddhant’s shady relatives hire Shekhar (Ajay Devgn), a former jailbird and a big time conman to pose as a paternal uncle, Raj Chadda. Shekhar agrees to do it for a hefty sum of money. Problems arise when another man enters the house and claims to be Raju Chadda too. Raju Chacha went on to be moderately successful at the box-office. 
In 2002, Ajay Devgn delivered another outstanding performance with Company. The movie was directed by Ram Gopal Verma and was his take on the working of Mumbai’s underworld. Both Company and Ajay’s performance reciveved critical acclaim. Popular movie critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh also spoke about Ajay’s performance in the film, “"Ajay Devgn enacts his role to perfection. A controlled performance, the actor takes to this complex character like a fish takes to water. He underplays his part with admirable ease."

Devgan was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award and went on to win the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor in the following year.

In the year 2002, Ajay Devgn was seen in the Legend of Bhagat Singh. The period drama was directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. The film was based on The film is about Bhagat Singh, a socialist revolutionary who fought for Indian independence along with fellow members of the Hindustan Republic Association. Interstingly, Ajay Devgn was not the first choice to play the role of the Bhagat Singh. Santoshi even considered casting a new face but didn’t seem happy with the options. Eventually, Ajay was signed on as the lead because Santoshi felt he had "the eyes of a revolutionary. His introvert nature conveys loud and clear signals that there is a volcano inside him ready to burst." The screen taste alone convinced Santoshi that Ajay was the right man for the film as he stated that he was pleasantly surprised to see how much Ajay Devgn’s face resembled the freedom fighter. This was the second collaboration of Ajay Devgn and Rajkumar Santoshi after Lajja. Ajay also stated that this was his most challenging assignment in his career at that point of time. 

To prepare for the role, Ajay had studied all of the references Santoshi and Rajabali had procured while developing the film's script in addition to shedding weight. In an interview with leading daily, Ajay also spoke about why he was so keen for working in such a film, “Whatever we have read in school and learnt in history is not even 1% of the kind of person he [Bhagat] was. I don't think he got his due...When Rajkumar Santoshi narrated the script to me, I was taken aback because this man had done so much and his motive was not just independence of India. He had predicted the challenges that we face in our country today. From riots to corruption, he had predicted that and he wanted to fight that.” he said. The role of his companions Sukhdev was played by Sushant Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad was played by Akhilendra Mishra. The two along with Ajay did an excellent job in their roles. The film went on to receive massive critical acclaim as critics showered praise for the films direction, story, screenplay, cinematography, production design and the performances of Ajay and Sushant. Despite the critical acclaim, the film however failed to do well at the box-office. 

Ajay was also seen in Anees Bazmee‘s Deewange. The film was partially inspired by William Diehl's novel, Primal Fear. Seeing Ajay Devgn in a negative role was refreshing for his fans. The film was a success at the box-office and also saw Ajay receive many awards for his performance including the FIlmfare Best Villain Award. In the year 2004, Ajay was cast with Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar in Rajkumar Santoshi's action thriller Khakee. He’d played the bad guy before in a movie called Qayamat and that was just the base for some more antagonist intensity in Rajkumar Santoshi’s Khakhee. This film featured cops (played by Amitabh Bachchan, AKshay Kumar and Tusshar Kapoor) on the run from a gang led by Ajay Devgn. There are plenty of gun fights, car chases and man to man fights here to please the average action buff. Plus the superlative acting performances, elevate Khakhee to modern cult hit status.

He was seen playing the role of a villain again the film. The film proved to be a success at the box-office and Ajay’s performance in the negative role ocne again recevieved a lot of critical acclaim.  Ajay also collaborated with Rituparno Gosh for Raincoat which also starred Aishwarya Rai. The film is an adaptation of O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi. Raincoat met with wide critical acclaim and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. His performance as the villain in the film Kaal also earned him a nomination for Filmfare Best Villain Award. In the year 2006, Ajay Devgn played Othello in Omkara, which was a Bollywood adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Othello. The film was directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. Omkara was about a tragedy of sexual jealousy set against the backdrop of the political system in Uttar Pradesh. Along with Ajay Devgn, Omkara also starred Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Konkona Sen Sharma. Ajay’s character Omkara was a goon, who led a mafia gang but was extremely principled in whatever he did. He saw life only in extremes, either as good or as evil. 

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2006 bought a change in Ajay’s career. Until that point, although he was seen in a variety of genres in films, Ajay was regarded as an action hero. But, with Golmaal the audience got to witness a funny side of the actor. Golmaal was directed by Rohit Shetty. Along with Ajay Devgn the film also stars Arshad Warsi, Sharman Joshi, Tusshar Kapoor and Rimi Sen in lead roles. The story of the movie was based on a Gujarati play Aflatoon by Mihir Bhuta and Neeraj Vora adapted from Harsh Shivsharan's original Marathi play Ghar-Ghar. The film performed exceptionally at the box-office and also received a thumbs up from the critics. The success of Golmaal also paved the way for three more Golmaal films. In 2008, Rohit Shetty returned with Golmaal Returns. This time the movie was based on a wife who is always suspecting her husband for being unfaithful. Golmaal Returns also went to be a success commercially as it raked in INR 79.25 crore. 
Ajay Devgn was also seen in Prakash Jha’s political drama titled Rajneeti in 2010. The title of the film literally translates to Politics. The movie was draws parallel to the epic Mahabaratha where the characters of the film like Karna (Ajay Devgn), Krishna (Nana Patekar), Arjuna (Ranbir Kapoor), Bhim (Arjun Rampal), Duryodhana (Manoj Bajpai), and Draupadi (Katrina Kaif) were similar to the legendary narrative. There are also rumours that Prakash Jha will create a sequel to the film. Sources reported that the film will not be a continuation of the first part, but will tell a fresh story which is inspired by Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign.
In 2010, Ajay Devgn starred in Milan Luthria’s Once Upon A Time In Mumbai. The film was succesfull at the box-office and also saw Ajay Devgn receive a lot of praise for his performance in the film as Sultan Mirza. Taran Adarsh also spoke about Ajay’s performance in Once Upon A Time in Mumbai saying, “Ajay Devgn is splendid as Sultan. The actor had enacted a similar role in Company, but it must be said that his interpretation is so different in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai. He adds so much depth to the character, which only goes to prove his range and versatility. This is, without a trace of doubt, Ajay's finest work so far."
In 2011, Ajay Devgn starred in Rohit Shetty’s Singham which was based on a south indian film also titled Singham. Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgn’s team hit it big with their comedies but the Singham franchise catapulted them into another league all together. This movie featured Ajay Devgn as a super cop and he was beating up bad guys like they were rag dolls. Singham was the perfect balance of drama, comedy, romance and action. But it was the fights and the Ajay Devgn machismo that stole the show. Singham was a typical masala entertainer.

With Singham, Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty followed a tried and tested formula of commercial cinema and it paid off. In 2014, he also was seen in the sequel of Singham which was titled Singham Returns. Both the versions of the Singham managed to do well at the box-office. Ajay Devgn was also seen in Drishyam which was directed by Nishant Kamat. Ajay portrayed the role of a protective father in the film as he is seen trying to save his daughter from going to jail in the case of a murder.
The film fared very well at the box-office and also saw Ajay receive massive critical acclaim for his performance in the film. In 2018, Ajay Devgn returned with the fourth instalment of the Golamaal series, which was titled Golmaal Again. Golmaal Again was the most successful part amongst all four. The film went on to gross over INR 300 crore at the worldwide box-office.

His last release is Raid, which is directed by Raj Kumar Gupta. In Raid, Ajay plays the role of a tax-officer who is very principled in the way he carries out his work. Everything is changed when he encounters a corrupt politician who is rumoured to have evaded income tax from a long time. The film is currently doing well at the box-office. 
From Phool Aur Kaante to Raid Ajay has managed to make every character stand out in some way. While in the 90’s Ajay was only popular for his action roles but in 2000’s he changed that image of his. While he was seen in many intense roles such as Zakhm and Omkara, we also saw him in comedies like All The Best and the very popular Golmaal series. The characters he plays are generally middle class which is another reason that his movies connect so well with the masses. Ajay believes in keeping the struggle of his characters real yet entertaining. As he said at a recent event himself, “It is difficult to stay relevant in industry. You just cannot take things easily. You have to work hard for it and if you achieve something, it doesn’t mean it will last with you forever. You have to keep struggling and be where you are and try to move forward till you can because there will be point where you will start moving backwards.” More on: Ajay Devgn

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