Bhai-Bhai? Never

On April 10, 2025, Ajay Devgn announced the wrap of Dhamaal 4 first schedule 

Their love-to-hate-you story plays out behind enemy lines

Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn have many similarities. Both are referred to as action heroes, having shot to fame with their dhamakedar line-up back in the 90s. Both actors simultaneously forayed into comedies. If Akshay had the Hera Pheri, Houseful and Welcome franchises, Ajay had Golmaal, Dhamaal and Son of Sardar. In other words, through four decades, both these actors stood on solid ground and are counted as reliable superstars. So, they always find work.

Off late, though, their films have been yo-yoing. For every hit they give, both give two flops, making them average it out.

That is their professional report card. On the personal front, both ‘pretend’ to be each other’s well-wishers. They invariably cross-promote each other’s movies on social media with call-outs. Their wives — Kajol and Twinkle Khanna, different from each other as chalk and cheese — recently did an OTT talk show. The show itself was more meme-worthy than meritorious. Nevertheless, just the fact that both these star-wives finished an entire season without incident is good enough.

Coming back to the star-patis, a recent clash (averted just in the nick of time) showed several chinks in AK-AD’s armour. Akshay’s Welcome to the Jungle was to clash with Ajay’s Dhamaal 4 this June. One hears that the same marketing and PR firms were reportedly signed to promote both comic capers. But, realising that neither of them is on a great wicket at this point, one of the actors quietly traded the behind-the-scenes people. Before you could blink, different teams were brought into place for Dhamaal and Welcome to the Jungle.

This ‘‘clever’’ move showed Bollywood that Akshay and Ajay may pretend to be friends, but in reality, they are cut-throat professionals. Both know they can put up a pretence show, especially on the gullible social media front, but when it comes to brass tacks, they will pitch their tents separately.

The song defining their situation is — dost dost na raha, pyar ka sawaal hi nahin utha.