Ajay Devgan carves a niche for himself as an actor with repertoire of skills

"Malik bhai," a passerby calls out. A lanky star, sunglasses framed by a thick mop of hair, exits a white Lexus Land Cruiser, turns around and grins languidly. Mumbai hasn't got itself a new don. It's just Ajay Devgan acknowledging approval from the audience for his role as the ice-cool mafia boss inCompany.

"If it isn't Malik, it's Bhagat Singh," he smiles, referring to his second alter ego. While there's a faint buzz in the film industry of a second national award for his performance inThe Legend of Bhagat Singh(TLOBS), the biggest award, he says, has been the response to his work.

He has been busy this year. In betweenCompanyandTLOBS, Devgan found time to play Aishwarya Rai's canny lover in David Dhawan'sHum Kissi Se Kam Nahin. "Not since Amitabh Bachchan have we had an actor capable of playing such a repertoire of roles," says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

But what is Devgan like off-duty? "What you see is what you get," wife Kajol chortles, "a family man down to the core." He does not attend film parties, never carries work home and has far fewer friends than his gregarious wife.