Happy Birthday Ajay Devgn! 5 Underrated Performances of the National Award Winning Actor That You Shouldn't Miss

On April 2, that is today, Ajay Devgn celebrates his 49th birthday. On behalf of the entire Latesly desk, we wish the powerful superstar Many Many Happy Returns of the Day!

Not many know that Ajay Devgn has acted a s a child actor (in Pyari Behna), before he made his adult debut in his father's directorial, Phool Aur Kaante. His first movie established Devgn as a star and also gave him the action hero image. In the '90s, he delivered hits in action movies like Vijaypath, Dilwale, Jigar, Suhaag etc. His National award win for Zakhm showed the world that he has dramatic chops. However, it was his performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam that made the world stand up and notice that he can pull off sensitive romantic roles with ease. From thereon he moved from strength to strength, winning another National Award for his performance in The Legend of Bhagat Singh.

He also found blockbuster success in Singham and the Golmaal franchises, while also exploring negative roles in movies like Deewangee, Khakee, Shikhar and Kaal with immaculate ease. He also explored other genres like underworld (Company), art-fare (Raincoat), horror (Bhoot). Ajay Devgn also made two movies as a director in U, Me Aur Hum and Shivaay. His latest movie, Raid is on the threshold of entering the Rs 100 crore club.

On his birthday, we look at his less spoken movies and filter out five of our favourite performances that are spoken in a much hushed tones. Do check them out if you are an Ajay Devgn fan

Diljale

Before he showed he can pull off drama with ease in Zakhm, Ajay Devgn showed the stirrings of the same in this romantic drama opposite Sonali Bendre. Ajay Devgn plays a terrorist who falls for a valley girl, which makes him question the path he has chosen for himself.

Lajja

In Rajkumar Santoshi's underrated anthology movie, Ajay Devgn gave a terrific performance as the Robin hood-like dacoit who wants take on evil Thakur in his village. From his aggressive body language to getting the accent right, Devgn is a treat to watch in the movie.

LOC Kargil

When your movie contains half the industry, it is no mean feat to stand apart from your colleagues who are also in good form. In JP Dutta's war saga, Ajay Devgn was one of the few positives that will leave an impact on you once the movie is over.

Sunday

Let's talk about comedy now. While we have appreciated Devgn's comedic chops in Golmaal series and All The Best, his Sunday with Rohit Shetty went under the radar. Which is sad, since Ajay Devgn was excellent as the cop in love with a dubbing artist, while trying to solve the mystery of her missing day.

Aakrosh

Priyadarshan's gritty drama was bashed for ripping off Hollywood film Mississippi Burning and was a flop at the box office. Let me be honest - it was not bad and it had the guts to address the issue the burning topic of honour killing. Also it featured excellent performances from both its lead actors, Akshaye Khanna and Ajay Devgn.

Once again, Happy Birthday Ajay Devgn!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 02, 2018 12:17 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).