Call him the quiet super-achiever. Without the hype machinery going berserk, Ajay Devgn has emerged the most reliable superstar in Bollywood in the last few tumultuous years.
Consider this: the last superhit of Hindi cinema before the pandemic was Tanhaji.It starred Devgn. Now the first hit post the pandemic Sooryavanshi also stars Devgn, albeit in a special appearance.
Rest assured,the flow of hits is not going to stop there. Among the flow of superhits that is likely to continue in the coming months Devgn figures prominently in two of them. He plays an extended cameo in the ready-for-release films of the two biggest contemporary filmmakers of Indian cinema : S S Rajamouli’s RRR and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi.
Both filmmakers can’t stop raving over Devgn.
Says Bhansali, “I worked with Ajay after 22 years. We last did Hum…Dil De Chuke Sanam. I could see a very special quality in him back then. What he brings to the table is something very special.”
Rajamouli while speaking on Devgn said to me. “Ajay Sir’s character is extremely important for RRR. I needed an actor whose face and every word he uttered oozes honesty and integrity. I needed an actor the whole country would believe in what he says or does. I think if I spell out the requirement and ask who is the best actor to play the role, 9 out10 people would say Ajay Devgn.”
High praise indeed from Rajamouli whose relations with Ajay and his wife Kajol go back a long way. Devgn and Rajamouli have been planning to collaborate for the last 8 years. In 2012 for the Hindi version of Rajamouli’s Eega the director met Ajay Devgn and Kajol and hit it off instantly.The star-couple readily did the voiceover for the Hindi version of Eega(Makkhi).
The director also agreed to direct a Hindi film for Devgn which Devgn would produce.But at that point of time Rajamouli was committed to doing a Telugu film with Prabhas.So he did Baahubali. But now it’s time to do a Hindi film with Ajay Devgn.
Devgn’s streak of super-success is most likely to continue with his next release Maidaan opening in 3 June 2021, where he plays the real-life football coach Syed Abdul Rahim
Maidaan director Amit Sharma(of Badhaai Ho) can’t stop raving about Devgn, “Ajay Devgn Sir is an all-rounder .At 52 he looks 40. He has the lethal combination of experience and youthful looks. He has won the National award twice before(for The Legend Of Bhagat Singh and Zakham). I am confident he will win his third National award for Maidaan.”