ACTOR
Ajay Devgn
65 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (65)
- #001
Ajay Devgn has won three National Awards for Best Actor: for Zakham (1998), The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002) and Tanhaji (2020).
- #002
In August 2009, at his family's request, Ajay Devgn changed the spelling of his surname from Devgan to Devgn.
- #003
Ajay Devgn adores his parents and touches their feet every morning before leaving the house. No matter how successful he becomes, his family remains the most important thing to him.
- #004
Ajay Devgn was cast in Kuku Kohli's shelved film Asar - The Impact. The film, from 2004, was to star Dilip Kumar and Priyanka Chopra in the lead roles.
- #005
Ajay Devgn was cast in NN Sippy's shelved, untitled film (1995), which was to star Rishi Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit and Ajay Devgan in the lead roles.
- #006
In 1991, Ajay Devgn directed the first video test for Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna.
- #007
At university, Bobby Deol acted in a video film directed by both Ajay Devgan and Vikram Bhatt. The film featured songs, action and more, and was shot in Khandala. His university friend Lubna Siddique played opposite him. Atul Agnihothri acted in another video film that was made.
- #008
Ajay Devgn was cast in the shelved film Kalyug (1993), which was to star Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Pooja Bhatt, Lisa Ray (replacing Manisha Koirala) and Mink Singh (replacing Raveena Tandon). Ajay Devgan left and Atul Agnihotri was signed. Lisa and Mink were later dropped as well. In the end Sanjay Dutt left the film and was replaced by Mithun. The film was later renamed Naaraz and made in 1994.
- #009
In 1990, Ajay Devgn became engaged to Simrin Nainaney, the daughter of director Mohan Kumar. Her brothers are actor-producer Rohit Kumar and Gautam Kumar.
- #010
Because of problems with producers Samir and Hanif, Ajay Devgn's film Singer was never completed or released. They were involved in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. All the films there were either shelved or postponed indefinitely because of their legal problems (Sanam). Magnum Films' Singer (1993) starred Ajay Devgan, Shilpa Shirodkar, Nagma, Pankaj Berry and Anand Balraj, with music by Nadeem Shravan and direction by Sunil Agnihothri.
- #011
Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty share a great deal in common: both are the sons of well-known action directors.
- #012
Various websites mistakenly credit Ajay Devgn as Usta Chotu in Pyari Behhna. Usta Chotu was a child artist who had previously worked in the film Disco Dancer.
- #013
Ajay Devgn has two children with his wife Kajol: daughter Nysa, born in April 2003, and son Yug, born in September 2010.
- #014
Ajay Devgn is the son of Veeru Devgan and Veena Devgan, the cousin of Anil Devgan, and the son-in-law of Bollywood actress Tanuja Mukherjee.
- #015
Ajay Devgn was cast in the shelved Siddhivinayak Movies film Chhalia (1997), starring Ajay Devgan, Tabu, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Johny Lever and Sujit Kumar, with music by Shyam-Surender and direction by Abbas Mustan.
- #016
Ajay Devgn was cast in an untitled Kaarma Film International film. It was to star a new lead pair from Pakistan alongside Aditya Pancholi, with music by Himesh Reshamiya, produced by Ashok Khemka and directed by Satish Kaushik. This was in 2004.
- #017
Ajay Devgn's father, Veeru Devgn, acted alongside Amitabh Bachchan in Mr. Natwarlal.
- #018
Ajay Devgn learned Urdu from M. M. Baig, the father of Baby Guddu. This was before Ajay entered films.
- #019
Ajay Devgn's father, Veeru Devgan, received many offers for Ajay to work as a child artist but turned them down.
- #020
In 1993, Ajay Devgn signed Rajeev Kumar's film Guru Chela, to be directed by David Dhawan, starring Mithun Chakraborthy and Ajay Devgan. The film could have been shot when Rajeev and David had some personal problems with each other. David received an offer to direct a bigger film and lost interest. He told the producer a false story that Ajay Devgn did not want to make the film. Ajay heard about this, grew angry and chased David out of the studio with a stick.
- #021
Ajay Devgn starred in the shelved film "Sargna", directed by Saurabh Sinha. The film was to star Bhoomika Chawla and Dino Morea in the lead roles. This was in 2007.
- #022
Ajay Devgn starred in the shelved Abhishek Films / Vishesh Films production "Girvee" (Sangharsh) (Shapit) (1992-1997). Cast: Ajay Devgan, Pooja Bhatt, Avtar Gill, Javed Khan, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Rahul Bhatt (Mahesh Bhatt's son); Music: Nadeem Shravan; Producers: Arun S. Thakur / Mukesh Bhatt; Director: Mahesh Bhatt. The film was based on bonded laborers.
- #023
In October 1999, Devgn signed F. K. International's "Qurbaan Tujh Pe Mere Jaan", which was to star Aishwarya Rai and Fardeen Khan and be produced and directed by Feroz Khan. It was a love story set against the backwardness of the film industry. The film was announced but later cancelled. A C-grade film with a similar title had been made earlier: Star International's shelved "Qurban Meri Jaan" (1988), starring Javed Khan Amrohi and Sahila Chadha, with music by N. Pandey and directed by S. Azhar.
- #024
He is often mistaken for the real brother of director Anil Devgan. Veeru Devgan and Anil Devgan's father were brothers.
- #025
He has a sister named Neelam. He has a son named Aman.
- #026
He has a sister named Kavita.
- #027
His brother-in-law is named Kiran Gandhi (married to his sister Neelam).
- #028
Ajay Devgn starred in the shelved P. M. Films "Zinda Dil" (1998). Cast: Ajay Devgan, Urmila Matondkar; Story: Ved Prakash Sharma; Music: Uttam Singh; Producer: Monica Padhal; Director: Umesh Mehra.
- #029
He was producing "Baraf", directed by Vishal Bharadwaj and starring Manoj Bajpayee and Sushmita Sen. For undisclosed reasons they decided to shelve the film. This was in 2000.
- #030
Ajay Devgn was to star in Aparna Sen's shelved film "Gulel", alongside Konkana Sen Sharma (replacing Kareena Kapoor), Saif Ali Khan, Sushmita Sen (replacing Bipasha Basu), with Urmila in a special appearance. This was in 2008. In 2009 there was talk that Ranbir Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar had replaced Ajay and Saif.
- #031
Producer Ashu Devgan is his cousin. Ashu was producing a film titled "Ek Hum Ek Tum" starring Carran Kapur. The film was shelved in 2006.
- #032
Ajay Devgn starred in the shelved M. B. M Films "Singer" (1993). Starring Ajay Devgan (double role), Shilpa Shirodkar, Nagma, Pankaj Berry, Anand Balraaj, Rami Reddy, Kader Khan; Music: Nadeem-Shravan; Director: Sunil Agnihotri; Reels: 15. It was to be a remake of the Disney series Double Switch.
- #033
Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn and Karishma Kapoor starred in Suraj Prakash's shelved film. It was directed by Raj Kanwar. This was in 2001.
- #034
Ajay Devgn starred in Rajkumar Santoshi's shelved film "Prithviraj Samyukta". The film was based on the warrior Prithviraj Chauhan. Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai starred in the film. The film was shelved because Sunny Deol was trying to make a film on the same subject.
- #035
In 2005, Anees Bazmee was writing the script of a love story that was to star Devgn and Celina Jaitley. He decided to shelve the film.
- #036
Ajay Devgn starred in the shelved Prince & Prince Combines film "Kala Paani" (1993). Starring Ajay Devgan, Karishma Kapoor (who replaced Divya Bharti due to a problem with the producer) and Sunil Shetty. It was produced by Deepak Duggal and directed by Mahesh Bhatt. (Anees Bazmee was later signed.)
- #037
Ajay Devgn starred in the shelved film "Humne Tumko Dekha" (1994). Starring Madhuri Dixit, Ajay Devgan, Atul Agnihotri and Anjali Jathar; produced by Saroj Khan and directed by Raju Khan.
- #038
Ajay Devgn starred in the shelved film Pyaar Bhari Waadiyan (1992). The film was to be directed by Nazir Herekar. Starring Shammi Kapoor, Asha Parekh, Ajay Devgan and Masooma. Nazir was to launch his daughter Masooma Herekar in the film. Masooma had also agreed to appear with Siddharth in her father's film Dhuan Hi Dhuan (Shahbaz Khan later replaced him). However, Pyar Bhari Waadiyan was shelved after Masooma committed suicide together with her boyfriend Pravin D'Cunha. The double suicide took place at a hotel due to the slitting of a wrist. Masooma did not want to become an actress and wanted to settle down. Nazir Herekar opposed the idea and wanted her to become an actress.
- #039
Ajay Devgn starred in Kumar Arts International's shelved film "Production No.1" (1995). Starring Ajay Devgan, Manisha Koirala and Amrish Puri; Director: Kuku Kohli.
- #040
In October 1991, Mukesh Bhatt released a film titled Chahat, to be directed by Mahesh Bhatt and starring Rahul Roy. After Pyar Ka Saaya failed, Mahesh replaced Rahul with Ajay Devgan. This film should not be confused with the 1996 Chaahat starring Shah Rukh Khan. The cast of "Chahat" (1991/1992) includes Sanjay Dutt, Pooja Bhatt, Ajay Devgan, Anupam Kher, Avtar Gill and Paresh Rawal.
- #041
Ajay Devgn was the first choice to play Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao in Bajirao Mastani. However, due to his high fee demands, he could not complete the film.
- #042
In 2008, Anees Bazmee was to make a comedy titled "No Problem" with Ajay Devgn, Nana Patekar and Riteish Deshmukh for UTV. It was shelved. The same title was later used for another Anees Bazmee film.
- #043
In 1994, Weston Music Cassette signed Rahul Rawail to direct a film starring Madhuri Dixit and Ajay Devgn. The film was shelved.
- #044
In 1996, Ajay Devgn acted in an untitled film for Kumar Arts International. The cast included Ajay Devgn, Manisha Koirala and Amrish Puri, with music by Anu Malik and direction by Kuku Kohli.
- #045
Ajay Devgn and Karishma Kapoor signed on for K. C. Bokadia's "Raaj Kare Shaitan" in 1992. In 1996 they were replaced by Arjun and Madhoo. The film's title was changed from Raaj Kare Shaitan to Yudhvansh, then to Waqt Sikander Hain, and finally to Zulm O Sitam.
- #046
In 2000, Mahesh Bhatt was writing a script about the uprooted Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir. Ajay Devgn was to star in the film, with Tanuja Chandra directing.
- #047
Ajay Devgn acted in the shelved Parveen Enterprises film "Pyar Bhari Wadiaan" (1992). The cast included Shammi Kapoor, Asha Parekh, Ajay Devgn, Masooma, Mehmood, Amrish Puri, Goga Kapoor, Arjun, Shiva, Mac Mohan, Yunes Parvez, Adi Irani, Johnny Whisky and Coca Cola, with music by Syed Ali and production and direction by Nazir Herekar.
- #048
Ajay Devgn's sister Neelam has a son named Daanish Gandhi, who is an assistant director and actor.
- #049
Ajay Devgn acted in Rajkumar Santoshi's shelved film "Saamna". The cast included Nana Patekar, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Ritesh Deshmukh, Urmila Matondkar and Mahima Chaudhry, with Keshu Ramsay producing. It was based on India's fake godmen, with Nana Patekar playing an evil spiritual leader. This was in 2007.
- #050
Ajay Devgn has a nephew named Aman Gandhi, the son of his sister Neelam.
- #051
Ajay Devgn acted in the shelved Neha Arts film "Aankh Micholi" (1999/2000). The cast included Anil Kapoor (later replaced by Sanjay Dutt), Ajay Devgn, Karishma Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Shakti Kapoor, Sadashiv Amrapurkar and Johnny Lever, with writing by Sanjeev Duggal and K. Bhagyaraj, music by Anand-Milind, production by Nitin Manmohan and direction by Anees Bazmee.
- #052
In 1992, Ajay Devgn acted in an untitled Rahul Rawail Productions film. The cast included Ajay Devgn and Juhi Chawla, with story and screenplay by Sujit Sen, Robin Bhatt and Javed Siddique, and production and direction by Rahul Rawail.
- #053
In 1994, Rajkumar Kohli launched a film titled Jeene Nahin Doonga with Sunny Deol, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Armaan Kohli. Ajay played Sunny's younger brother, and Akshay played a coast guard commando. Ajay and Akshay later withdrew from the film.
- #054
In 2016, the Government of India awarded Ajay Devgn the Padma Shri, its fourth-highest civilian honour.
- #055
Ajay Devgn was initially considered for the role of Rahul Mehra in DARR (1993), but after reconsideration, producer-director Yash Chopra concluded that, despite Devgn not having the look of a conventional leading man, his successful debut in PHOOL AUR KAANTE (1991) had made him more recognisable as a tough but sympathetic hero. Chopra therefore kept Devgn as a possibility and offered the role to Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan, finally settling on Shahrukh Khan after Aamir turned it down.
- #056
Ajay Devgn was considered for the role of Sultan Allauddin Khilji in PADMAVAT (2017).
- #057
Ajay Devgn has the second-highest number of Filmfare Best Actor nominations without a win, with 8. The highest belongs to his close friend and contemporary Salman Khan, with 11.
- #058
Having won the National Film Award for Best Actor 3 times, Ajay Devgn, along with Mammootty and Kamal Hasan, is the second-most awarded actor in the category, behind Amitabh Bachchan, who has won it 4 times.
- #059
Ajay Devgn was Rajkumar Santoshi's first and only choice for the role of Indian independence activist Bhagat Singh in THE LEGEND OF BHAGAT SINGH (2002). Ironically, although the performance won him his second National Film Award for Best Actor, Devgn was surprisingly not nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor award.
- #060
Ajay Devgn was the highest-grossing Bollywood actor of 2010. Four of his 5 films were among the year's top 10 hits, with a combined box office gross exceeding 4 billion INR.
- #061
Ajay Devgn ranked 7th in Rediff Mail's compilation of the top 10 Bollywood actors of the 2000s. Devgn and Amitabh Bachchan were the only people on the list with more than one National Film Award, and the only ones to have won at least one during that decade.
- #062
As of 2024, HALLA BOL (2008), directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, remains his only film that did not earn him a Filmfare nomination in any of the acting categories.
- #063
He had a very close bond with Sikander Khanna, who was Manoj Kumar's assistant director, director and actor. When Sikander had a son, he named him Vishal, after Manoj Kumar's son Vishal Goswami; Vishal would later become an assistant director and actor. This was why Ajay Devgn chose to change his name from Vishal to Ajay.
- #064
Ajay Devgn's appearance was also compared to Sunil Dutt's because of similarities in his face, action image, dialogue delivery, body language and hairstyle.
- #065
During the making of Phool Aur Kaante, Veeru Devgan asked director Partho Ghosh to watch the film's rush. He wanted Partho to sign Ajay for a film. Partho did not trust Ajay and refused.
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