Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema. Devgn has appeared in over a hundred films and has won numerous accolades, including four National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards. In 2016, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country. Devgn began his professional career with Phool Aur Kaante in 1991. He then rose to prominence as an action hero starring in successful films such as Jigar (1992), Dilwale (1994), Diljale (1996). He went on to give critically acclaimed performances in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Company (2002), Deewangee (2002), for Zakhm (1998) and The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), he won National Film Award for Best Actor. After the success of Golmaal: Fun Unlimited (2006), he went on to collaborate with Rohit Shetty on a number of action-comedies including Golmaal Returns (2008), All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), Golmaal 3 (2010), Singham (2011), Bol Bachchan (2012), Singham Returns (2014), and Golmaal Again (2017). His highest-grossing movies include Total Dhamaal (2019), Tanhaji (2020) and Drishyam 2 (2022). Devgn owns a production company Ajay Devgn FFilms, which was established in 2000. In 2008, he debuted as a film director with U Me Aur Hum. Family background and marriage Devgn was born to a Punjabi Hindu Saraswath-Vishwakarma family originally from Amritsar, Punjab. The family has connections to the Hindi film industry in Mumbai. Devgn's father, Veeru Devgan, was a stunt choreographer and action-film director and his mother, Veena, is a film producer. His cousin, Anil Devgan, is a filmmaker and screenwriter. Devgn graduated from the Silver Beach High School in Juhu and then studied at Mithibai College. Devgn began a relationship with the actress Karisma Kapoor while filming Jigar, however, the couple ended their relationship in 1995. That same year, Devgn's relationship with the actress, Kajol Mukherjee, began whilst they were co-starring in Gundaraj. The media called them "an unlikely pair" due to their contrasting personalities. On 24 February 1999, the couple married in a traditional Maharashtrian Hindu ceremony at the Devgan home. The couple has two children. Their daughter, Nysa, was born in 2003 and their son, Yug, was born in 2010. Devgn and Kajol stored their newborn son's umbilical cord blood and tissues to act as a source of stem