From Drishyam to Shaitaan – Is Ajay Devgn’s Stardom Running On Borrowed Stories

Ajay Devgn has spent more than three decades building one of Bollywood’s most recognisable careers. He has played the action hero, the intense dramatic performer, the comic lead and the understated character actor, earning his place among the industry’s most dependable stars. Yet, at a time when originality is becoming an increasingly important currency in cinema, a rather uncomfortable question is worth asking: is Ajay Devgn’s current stardom being powered by borrowed stories? The question may sound harsh, but his recent filmography makes it difficult to ignore the pattern.

Take Drishyam, for instance. The film became a major success in Hindi, but the story had already made an impact through the Malayalam original. Ajay Devgn brought his own gravitas to the role and helped the Hindi version connect with a wider audience, but the foundation of the success was not an original Bollywood idea. Then came Shaitaan, which was based on the Gujarati film Vash. Once again, the Hindi version had a major star at its centre, while the core story had already been tested in another regional industry. These films worked, but they also raise a bigger question: when a story is already a proven hit elsewhere, how much of the risk is actually being taken by the superstar?

There is, of course, nothing inherently wrong with remakes. Cinema has always travelled across languages, cultures and industries. A well-made adaptation can take a brilliant story to millions of viewers who may never have watched the original. The problem begins when the remake becomes the safety blanket. A regional film succeeds, Bollywood acquires the rights, a familiar superstar is brought in, and the industry hopes lightning will strike twice. For producers, it can look like a sensible business strategy. But for an actor of Ajay Devgn’s stature, it is fair to ask whether he really needs to play that safe after 30-plus years in the business.

What makes the debate more interesting is that Ajay Devgn has already shown that he does not need a borrowed story to command attention. His career includes films that worked because of strong writing, original ideas and his ability to disappear into a character. Raid, Tanhaji and several of his other performances have demonstrated that audiences are willing to back him when the material gives them something fresh. That is precisely why the dependence on familiar or previously successful stories becomes more noticeable. Ajay is not a newcomer searching for a formula. He is a veteran star with enough credibility to make filmmakers take risks with him.

And the audience has changed too. There was a time when a Hindi remake could arrive in theatres without much of the mainstream audience knowing where its story came from. That world barely exists anymore. South Indian films are widely available through OTT platforms, social media and dubbed releases, meaning viewers can discover the original long before a Bollywood adaptation reaches them. So when the Hindi version arrives, the question is no longer simply whether the story is good. Audiences are asking what is new. What does this version bring to the table? And increasingly, can a superstar’s presence alone justify watching a story we have already seen?

Ajay Devgn remains a powerful star, and questioning his choice of films does not take away from his achievements or talent. But perhaps that is exactly why the conversation needs to be had. A star of his stature should be able to make audiences curious about a story they have never heard before, rather than rely on a story whose success has already been established somewhere else.

Drishyam and Shaitaan may have worked, but the bigger test for Ajay Devgn lies ahead: can he deliver a major box-office success with a truly original story and prove that his stardom does not need borrowed content to survive? After three decades, that would be a far more exciting gamble—and perhaps the ultimate proof that Ajay Devgn is still the star who can make the audience take a chance on something new.