Ajay Devgan
Apparently, action director Veeru Devgan knew his son would become a famous star the moment he saw his little baby's intense eyes through a camera lens. Sure enough, the son proved his father right by burning holes through the silver screen with his smouldering eyes.Today, he's considered the only real successor to Amitabh Bachchan's 'angry young man', for all the passion he pours into reclusive characters waiting to explode in the manner of dormant volcanoes.
No mean feat for a man who was initially considered a good stunt hero, but by no stretch of imagination, a genuine actor. In fact, when Ajay burst on to the scene performing daredevil feats and simultaneously riding two motorcycles in 'Phool Aur Kaante' (1991), the everlasting image he left in the minds of moviegoers was that of a man who was prepared to fight his way through the prevalent wave of mushy romances.
In the initial years, Ajay stayed faithful to this hard-earned image and continued to vindicate the cause of good versus evil in action bonanzas like 'Jigar' (1992), 'Divyashakti' (1993), 'Vijaypath' (1994) and 'Hulchul' (1995). Somewhere in the middle of all the on-screen violence and breathtaking stunts, softer roles like that of a man wrongly confined to an asylum in 'Dilwale' (1994) and the illegitimate son of a gangster who grows up to become an upright police officer in 'Naajayaz' (1995) came his way.
Gradually, he moved to softer roles with future wife Kajol in the light-hearted comedy 'Ishq' (1997) and the fluffy romance 'Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha'. Perhaps it was the success of these films or a desire to move away from the beaten track that prompted Ajay to cut down his workload and concentrate on quality.
By this time, he had already entered the business of film distribution. For 'Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha', he personally designed the entire marketing and publicity strategy and pulled off a winner!
The film that saw Ajay finally come into his own as an actor was Mahesh Bhatt's 'Zakhm'. A difficult role for any actor, Ajay had to play the part of a man who gets caught in Bombay's communal crossfire when his mother is killed by a rioting mob. He followed this up with an equally powerful performance in 'Kachche Dhaage' (1999).
And then came the crowning glory of his successful foray into the sensible end of commercial cinema: Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' (1999), where he actually lent conviction to a man who is desperate to reunite his wife (Aishwarya Rai) with her ex-lover (Salman Khan) despite being madly in love with her.
His association with the talented director from the off-mainstream cinema, Govind Nihalani, though, didn't yield the kind of results both men would have expected. And although Ajay was his usual efficient self, 'Thakshak' (1999) fell flat on its face.
Meanwhile, Ajay had tied the knot with long-time girlfriend, Kajol, settled down to blissful matrimony and expanded the scope of his business interests by venturing into film production with Veeru Devgan's 'Hindustan Ki Kasam'. The film bombed at the box-office despite Ajay's sincere double role and Amitabh Bachchan's towering presence.
His next project, 'Dil Kya Kare', which was directed by Prakash Jha and featured Kajol and Mahima Choudhary, too failed to charm the box-office. But that hasn't stopped Ajay from putting his heart on 'Raju Chacha' which is being directed by his cousin, Anil Devgan. Both Ajay and Kajol are personally supervising the production, besides acting in the film.
And now it seems, this man of few words is ready to try his hand at direction as well. While there has been no formal announcement so far, it is definitely the next logical step in his cinematic evolution.