Ajay Devgn's Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is the highest grossing film of the last two years. Of course, the pandemic struck soon after the period action drama was in its final leg in cinemas during February 2020.
Since then, few major Hindi films saw theatrical release and even fewer became box-offices successes. Exceptions include Sooryavanshi - the Akshay Kumar-starrer ended its run at Rs197 crore - and '83 - the sports drama starring Ranveer Singh, which has managed to just about scrape past the Rs100 crore mark and will close its run around Rs110 crore.
Then there is Maidaan which was supposed to release last Dussehra but had to be postponed because of the pandemic. The Boney Kapoor production is ready and features the superstar as a football coach. This, too, is a true story and sees Ajay Devgn in an intense avtar.
Devgn would be taking it easy, though, in Thank God where he returns with director Indra Kumar after Total Dhamaal, which was a commercial success. If the buzz is to believed, he plays God in the film which also has Sidharth Malhotra exploring his comic side.
Devgn is also playing the lead in the Hindi remake of Kaithi and Singham 3. The former is in fact set to begin shooting this month, unless the pandemic throws a spanner in the works. The South original was a hit intense drama. The role seems tailor-made for Ajay Devgn.
As for Singham 3, the film reunites him with Rohit Shetty after a special appearance in Sooryavanshi and one waits to see that film too go on floors later in 2022.
Between these five films, there is at least Rs1,000 crores riding on Ajay Devgn. Reason being that there is expectation of recovery of Rs200 crore from each of his films. And if one adds the OTT and satellite rights to that, then the number could be even bigger. Moreover, if the performance of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior at the box office is any indication, then the sky is the limit.
No wonder, S.S. Rajamouli and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, two of the country's greatest directors, are looking at his star presence to make their films - RRR and Gangubai Kathiawadi, respectively - even bigger. He has powerful cameos in both the films and while his presence in the former lends it a pan-India appeal, the part that he plays in the latter adds further gravitas to the Alia Bhatt starrer.
With so much happening already, Ajay Devgn is also engaged with Rudra - The Edge of Darkness, arguably the biggest web series to come out of India. While other major stars like Abhishek Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan have done Breathe: Into The Shadows and Sacred Games and Tandav already, the kind of scale that has been set by Applause Entertainment for Rudra - The Edge of Darkness is said to be a game-changer.
With so much already happening, the 52 year old actor has distributors and exhibitors banking on him to strike big again once theatres are back to normal.
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