Birthday Special: Where to watch some of Ajay Devgn’s most memorable films on OTT!

Ajay Devgn File.Pic/Yogen Shah

Ajay Devgn is the man who has given Hindi Cinema one of its most memorable and remarkably original entry scenes for a Hindi film hero. He seamlessly pulled off that split on two speeding bikes that introduced him to the world of films. But as years passed by, the nation got to see his brooding and intense side that captured the emotions in his eyes.

You switch on the television and chances are they must be airing Singham, its sequel, Total Dhamaal, Shivaay, Raid, or even the Golmaal series. There have been other respectable titles that aren't often seen on the small screen. In case you're missing them, you can go smaller and catch them on your phone or laptop and head to the OTT platform.

In these three decades, Devgn has been a part of some highly restrained yet rousing films that deserve a re-run. And if you are yet to discover them, a watch. Here are those films and here's where you can watch them:

1. Naajayaz (1995)- Amazon Prime Video

Mahesh Bhatt and Ajay Devgn came together for the first time for a drama called Naajayaz. As the title suggests, it narrates the story of a police officer who discovers he's the illegitimate child of a gangster he has to nab. Devgn was pitied against Naseeruddin Shah, and both men were controlled yet explosive in their emotions. In his good old days, or perhaps the vintage days, Mahesh Bhatt knew how to tell discomforting stories with dazzling actors.

2. Zakhm (1998)- Amazon Prime Video

Another collaboration of Bhatt and Devgn was Zakhm that dealt with a far more volatile theme. It was the story of a man who's coming to terms with the horrid reality of his mother. It touched upon topics like infidelity, politics, and religion. In case you're wondering it's only in today's day and age of social media that filmmakers and actors' voices are suppressed and silenced, Zakhm's release was as taxing as making it. What ultimately drove the film was the fearlessness of its craft that fetched the leading man his maiden National Award.

3. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999)- Amazon Prime Video

Devgn was intense here too, but this time the intensity was accompanied by a certain degree of softness. He played a lawyer called Vanraj. He jokes to his wife that courtrooms are often the rooms for comedy, and that he loses a majority of his cases. He's a bad singer too, and the nervousness and embarrassment that follows after he attempts to croon Chingari Koi Bhadke is both amusing and pitiful. As much for the electric chemistry of Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's romantic triangle also showed how love can exude quietness too.

4. The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002)- Netflix

Not many people were aware of the term biopic when Rajkumar Santoshi made a film on the life India's freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. Devgn essayed the titular role and put his soaring eyes and raging intensity to good use. Intense is the word that's often used to describe his performances and this one is no exception, ultimately bringing the second National Award at his house.

5. Yuva (2004)- Netflix

Mani Ratnam's Yuva is a story of three men with three different ideas and ideologies. One is driven by greed and lust, the other by politics, and the third by love. Devgn played Michael, the man for the politics and of the politics. Again, it cannot be said how a theme like Yuva would be gazed today, but back in 2004, it did raise some pressing questions about the country's youth and how politics can play a crucial role in its future. Who would've thought the future would be so bleak that filmmakers and actors would struggle to even make a film on politics, let alone portraying their perspective?