Every actor, big or small from Dilip Kumar to Anil Dhawan has done his share of duds and super-duds. But Ajay’s turkeys are painfully memorable. Here’s a grimacing look at his worst films.
1. Dil Hai Betaab (1993): After a resoundingly successful debut in Phool Aur Kante and reasonably sturdy follow-ups in Jigar, Divya Shakti and Platform, Ajay Devgan came up with this awful action-adventure-drama directed by K C Bokadia. The brackish concoction starred Vivek Mushran and Pratibha Sinha besides Devgan, both of whom lost their careers. Devgan survived, Seeing this film you will wonder how!
2. Kanoon (1994): This abominable revenge drama featured Devgan as a one-man army avenging the slaughter of his family in the hands of an evil feudal lord played by Kiran Kumar. Kanoon was the only film in his career so far where Devgan was directed by a woman Sushma Shiromanee. His co-star was Urmila Matondkar. He did a much better film Deewangee with her. But that too didn’t work.
3. Gundaraaj (1995): This was the year when Devgan did two films with his future wife Kajol. Between Gundaraaj and Hulchal it was very hard for me to pick the worst film. I finally zeroed in on Gundaraaj directed by Guddu Dhanoa where Devgan plays a man sent to prison for raping and killing several women. When he is released (it’s not clear how and why he is still young on release) Devgan goes on a vendetta spree against his wrongdoers. This was mindless mayhem at its most mindless and stomach-churning.
4. Dil Kya Kare (1999): Prakash Jha decided to move away from political dramas to make what he thought was a full-on romantic drama. Ajay, a very close friend of Jha, and Kajol became Jha’s guinea pigs in what turned out to be the weirdest love story ever made on Planet Earth. Want to know how it went? Here goes: Kajol meets Devgan on a train when she is attacked by goons. Devgan rescues her and they make love. Yes! You read that right. Years later she turns up at his doorstep with their child. I hear Ajay and Kajol still have good laugh over this one. Come to think of it Dil Kya Kare was funnier than Ishq. Unintentionally, of course.
5. Main Aisa Hi Hoon (2005): And finally the worst film of Ajay Devgan’s career. Main Aisa Hi Hoon was a direct and despicable remake of Hollywood’s Sean Penn starrer I Am Sam with Devgan playing an autistic father to a teenaged girl with two women Sushmita Sen and Esha Deol crushing on him as though he were Shah Rukh Khan in My Name Is Khan. Directed by Harry Baweja this was an unmitigated disaster with the frames of the film shaking and wobbling and giving us a three-hour headache. We should have sued for damages.
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