Dinesh Kamath's column 'Ajay Devgn is good in playing both serious and comic roles' that was published in Newsband

Movie World

Ajay Devgn is good in playing both serious and comic roles

By Dinesh Kamath

During the last four years, Ajay Devgn has acted in five films all of which were hit. Can you imagine? Ajay Devgn is a very consistent actor and he has lasted in the film industry for three decades. He had started with Phool Aur Kaante (1991) and by now he has completed 100 films.

In 2019 he will be working on the movie ‘Total Dhamaal, a comedy film directed by Indra Kumar. ‘Action Jackson’ was the film in which Devgn had acted and which flopped. This was in 2014. Devgn had palyed double role in that film. It is strange that the film flopped considering the fact that it was directed by Prabhu Deva. The flop didn’t have any effect on Ajay; instead he became more determined and went on to act in ‘Singham Returns’ which became a super hit. Devgn is known for his record of delivering at least one hit per year and this record he has maintained till now.

His films like Drishyam (2015), Shivaay (2016), Golmaal Again (2017) and Raid (2018) were big hits. His film Baadshaho (2017) didn’t fare so badly but it was not a big hit too. His role in Drishyam was most appreciated by many movie-goers. ‘Shivaay’ was produced and directed by Devgn and he also acted in it. The film managed to garner Rs. 100 crore. He played a very serious role in the film ‘Raid’ which also made Rs 100 crore at the box office. Devgn was very impressive in this film. ‘Baadshaho’ in which Ajay Devgn acted was neither a flop not hit. It just managed to recover the amount that was invested in making it. The film ‘Golmaal Again’ made by Rohit Shetty had Ajay Devgn giving such a marvelous performance that the film managed to make Rs 200 crore.

Thus Devgn delivered hit after hit during the last four years and this has made him a darling of not only the audiences but also distributors and exhibitors.

Ajay Devgn is good in playing not just serious roles but also comic ones. Hence he didn’t hesitate to sign the comedy film ‘Total Dhamaal’. After Devgn displayed his comic timing in the film ‘Golmaal Again’ he was signed by Indra Kumar for ‘Total Dhamaal’. This film is also a multi starrer like ‘Golmaal Again’. The film has Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi (also Devgn's ‘partner-in-crime’ in the Golmaal series) and Jaaved Jaffrey. Hit pairing of Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit from the 1990s, adds on to the fun. The movie also has another brilliant actor who is none other than Sanjay Mishra. Even in the multi-starrers, Devgn doesn’t fail to impress and he becomes noticeable in spite of the fact that there are many other stars in the movie. There are some actors who when they act in multi starrers go unnoticed because of the dominating performance of the others stars in the film. But Ajay is not one of those actors. He neither fears competition nor fails to win the competition.

Ajay is also looking forward to act in movies ‘De De Pyaar De’ and ‘Taanaji - The Unsung Warrior’. Ajay Devgn has made many movie goers wonder how a single person can do both serious and comic roles in absolute perfect manner. But Ajay cannot understand why comedy films are considered inferior by many people. He doesn’t agree that even a brainless person can do comedy. In fact he believes that in order to play a comic role you require some intellect. Comedy can be more entertaining then a serious performance. In the past, there were comedians who became big stars. Mehmood is one example. He had ruled Hindi film Industry for many many years. Look at Kapil Sharma. Today he is considered as the best comedian and entertainer in India.  Making people laugh is a serious business and only super intelligent people can do that. Nobody would like to watch a serious film again after seeing it once. But the comedy films are watched again and again. I will continue with Ajay Devgn tomorrow too.