Nana Patekar & Ajay Devgan Movies Together List — 3 Films

The shape of the work

The 2000s belonged to Apaharan; the 2010s to Raajneeti. Nana Patekar acted in every film; Ajay Devgan acted in all of them. Strictly Hindi cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• For Bhoot (2003), director Ram Gopal Varma originally wanted a different actor for the cop role. But Nana Patekar personally recommended Ajay Devgan, saying he had the right 'stillness' for a horror film. Varma took the call, and that pairing became the film's anchor.
• In Apaharan (2005), Nana Patekar played the explosive, unpredictable gangster while Ajay Devgan played the coiled-up, quiet cop. The trick? They never rehearsed together. Both actors insisted on keeping the tension fresh — so every confrontation scene was shot in one or two takes, with real surprise in their reactions.
• Raajneeti (2010) was the first time a mainstream Hindi political thriller used two actors from different generations as direct rivals in a family power struggle. That film's success directly inspired the casting of Amitabh Bachchan and Ranbir Kapoor in a similar adversarial dynamic in the 2013 film Besharam — though that one didn't work.
• On the sets of Bhoot, Nana Patekar would often cook for the crew. Ajay Devgan, who usually keeps to himself, would sit with him during lunch breaks. Devgan later said in an interview that those quiet meals taught him more about acting than any workshop — because Patekar would break down scenes while stirring a pot.
• "Nana is the only actor who can make me nervous before a scene. He doesn't act — he becomes. So I have to become too, or I'll look fake next to him." — Ajay Devgan, in a 2005 interview with Stardust, talking about working on Apaharan.