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Twenty one years ago, Ajay Devgn made a memorable entry into Bollywood standing tall on two moving bikes. Since his debut, Phool Aur Kaante, the famously intense star continues to balance his stardom steadily through ups and downs.
While he's produced some topnotch work in films like Zakhm, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Company, Gangaajal, Raincoat, Omkara and Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai, lately Devgn's ambition for the box office appears to have taken precedence over inspiring performances.
It's paying off too.
Today, he's one of the most successful non-Khan in the league of A-listers with blockbuster potboilers like the Golmaal franchise and Singham to his credit. And despite not-so-encouraging reviews, the 43-year-old's recently-released comedy, Bol Bachchan directed by favourite filmmaker, Rohit Shetty co-starring Abhishek Bachchan, is likely to follow suit.
Considering what the man is capable of, the idea of Devgn forcing us to fall about juvenile jokes is just not funny. We are familiar with his career-best. Now, here are ten of his MOST embarrassing movies.
We know you want to add to our list. Go ahead, bombard the message board.
Rascals
While we'll never understand the logic behind David Dhawan throwing away the credibility of stars like Sanjay Dutt, Devgn and Kangna Ranaut in a lewd comedy to this degree, it's easy to see why it featured on every Worst Films list of 2011.
While on worst films, Ramu's atrocious retelling of Ramesh Sippy's beloved Sholay is one of the most unforgivable acts in Hindi cinema's history.
But what's even more baffling is how he got bright celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal, Sushmita Sen and Devgn to work on this con job of a film.
When Mehbooba went on the floors, Devgn was receiving accolades for his sensitive portrayal in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Sanjay Dutt had made a deep impact with Vaastav and Manisha Koirala?
Well, people still remembered her. Stuck in the can for nearly a decade, by the time it came out; nobody gave a damn about their worn-out, lacklustre, yawn-inducing romance.
Bollywood is all about instant recipes for success. And just because Rajkumar Santoshi's Khakee worked, K Subhash decided Insan will too, if he uses the same set of actors, Devgn, Akshay Kumar and Tusshar Kapoor, against the plot of Telugu hit, Khadgam.
Too bad he didn't find any takers for this Insan-e idea.
The only person looking happy and gorgeous in Deepak Shivdasni's stale wine, stinky bottle love triangle featuring Devgn and Preity Zinta is Madhuri Dixit.
Mainly, because she gets to wear beautiful Ritu Beri outfits and pretends to have no memory, recommended antidote for lousy cinema.
The 1980s style of cinema may be the flavour of the season but when Devgn's outmoded, long-in-the-making Parwana came out, nobody cared. If anything, it provides a good study in the unintended hilarity caused by poor continuity.
The Devgn-Ameesha Patel jinx flourished, deservingly so, with the rotten melodrama, Zameer.
So there's Devgn and his Golmaal co-star Arshad Warsi serenading the long-forgotten starlets, Neha and Mayuri Kango in order to avenge their deceased daddy from the girls' rowdy daddy in this dumbed-down version of Ram Lakhan.
Over the top takes a new meaning in Raj Kanwar's dreadful action romance made purely to cash on the runaway success of Devgn-Twinkle Khanna starrer, Jaan.
Understandably though, no one was interested in watching a lecherous Raj Babbar hounding the duo all through the appalling Iti-haha-s.
Recall Ajay Devgn in gaudy blue/ gold costumes alongside an equally flashy Rambha in a Nadeem-Shravan track that rips-off Rahman's music and Rajnikanth's movies from the super-hit Muthu in a movie that mispronounces Junk as Jung.
It's not nice to judge a book by its cover but it's quite acceptable to get excited about a movie from its casting credits.
So you can't really blame movie buffs for not jumping with joy to see a young Devgn sharing screen space with the excruciatingly dull Pratibha Sinha and the ILU-time wonder, Vivek Mushran in an archaic bore of a love triangle.