Is Ajay Devgn an underrated actor?

New Delhi: If there is one actor other than Khans who has constantly produced blockbusters over the years, it's Ajay Devgn. Still he is not counted in the same league as Khans. This suggests Ajay is probably the most underrated achiever of the Hindi film industry.

The actor had commercially successful films like 'Phool Aur Kaante', 'Jigar', 'Dilwale', 'Vijaypath' and 'Suhaag' in the beginning of his career. 'Diljale', 'Ishq', 'Pyar To Hona Hi Tha', and 'Zakhm' helped Devgn in growing as an actor.

He had become one of the finest actors of Bollywood till 'Kachche Dhaage', 'Takshak', and 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' but somehow the number podium remained elusive for him.

Khans, especially Shah Rukh was constantly making the cash register ringing but Ajay's success rate was not very far behind him. In fact Ajay's number of hits may exceed Shah Rukh Khan’s but the overall SRK packaging superseded.

Ajay paid the price for not being media friendly despite being popular in almost all the corners of India.

From 'Company' and 'Bhoot' to 'Gangaajal' and 'Apaharan', his variety and range carved a dedicated fan base but unfortunately this crowd was not as flashy as combined Khan fan base.

Further, Ajay Devgn was more admired in small centres than metropolitans which restricted the visibility of his fans who were less vocal than typically urban Khan fans. This further inspired the film intelligentsia to write in favour of or against the Khans because they were more talked about in the urban centres.

Ajay Devgn's condition can be compared to Rahul Dravid's position in the Indian cricket. Dravid has continuously scored runs but was never considered the number one batsman. However Sachin Tendulakar's humility and less megalomaniac attitude downsized all the media reports about his and Dravid's comparison, a non-existent virtue in Bollywood.

'Golmaal' series, 'Omkara' and 'Singham' have constantly made money in last five years, a period in which Salman and Aamir Khan turned into cash magnets.

Even Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan presented claims to be included in top 5 commercially viable actors in spite of a string of flops.

Ajay may not possess Greek god looks but acting talent is his strength and he should be credited for it. May be the New Year 2012 will give Ajay his due as three of his awaited films 'Tezz', 'Bol Bachchan' and 'S.O.S.-Son of Sardar' are scheduled to be released this year.