Actor Ajay Devgan, born on April 2 1969, turns 39 today. Ajay has already made his mark as a serious actor and now has turned to direction with his film U Me Aur Hum, which is set to release later this month. One is sure that his directorial debut will be worth the wait, seeing his track record over the years.

Today Devgan is easily considered one of the best actors that we have around in the Hindi film industry. But his entry into film with Phool Aur Kaante actually established him as an action hero. Being the son of Veeru Devgan, the renowned fight master, Devgan managed to break away from that trend quite easily and established himself as an actor of repute, first with Mahesh Bhatt's Zakhm. His intense performance and brooding screen presence won him several awards including the National Award For Best Actor. He followed it up with another stellar performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, opposite Salman Khan and Aishwariya Rai. Despite the presence of the other stars, Devgan managed to more than hold his own.

He came together with director Ram Gopal Verma and the result was Company. Even though a bit of the thunder was stolen by Vivek Oberoi who made his debut in that cult gangster film, Devgan's performance did not go unnoticed. His association with director Raj Kumar Santoshi saw Devgan doing a turn at playing the legendary Bhagat Singh in the film titled The Legend Of Bhagat Singh. He did Yuva with Mani Ratnam. But his best was yet to come. It needed Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of William Shakespear's Othello as Omkara, which truly saw him metamorphise as one of the most charismatic and talented actors that we have around. Besides these critically acclaimed film, Devgan has done the commercial scene with films like Ishq, Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Diljale etc.

An intensely private person, the actor has been happily married to actress Kajol for the last nine years and they have a daughter as well. This year may not have begun on the most fantastic of notes for Devgan as his films Halla Bol and Sunday did not fare too well at the box office, but he was definitely praised for his performance. But like the actor, all eyes are definitely on U Me Aur Hum, which will also see Devgan come together with his wife in the romantic caper. Devgan has proved time and again, that when it comes down to performance, dramatics, action or comedy, it's not just the Khans who rule the roost. He is there along with Akshay Kumar to give them a run for their money. He is not one to hog the limelight as he prefers to let his actions speak for him. Movietalkies.com wishes Ajay Devgan a very happy birthday.