After the success of his directorial debut U Me Aur Hum, Ajay Devgan returns to the big screen doing what he does best - acting. Bollywood columnist DEVANSH PATEL takes a sneaky peek at two of his new films - Golmaal Returns and London Dreams

IT'S been one of the most eagerly anticipated sequels in a couple of years and at long last the wait is over with the arrival of this year's most talked about film, Golmaal Returns. We got the first look of the film last week in Mumbai at Cinemax Theatre in the presence of the entire A-star cast comprised of Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Celina Jaitely, Shreyas Talpade and Anjana Sukhani.

Apparently, the other two lead actors, Kareena Kapoor and Amrita Arora, could not make it due to other commitments.

The film poster was there for the world to see, alongside a video promo and one of the songs in the movie, and I have to say the feature, directed by Rohit Shetty, looks like a rollercoaster ride filled with tons of laughter.

The success of the film's prequel Golmaal has raised a lot of expectations for Golmaal Returns, and judging by the way sequels have fared in Bollywood recently, all eyes are set firmly on the film.

The producers of the film, Shree Ashtavinayak, are also planning a special screening for the UK media sometime in October, which makes sense because their lead actor Ajay Devgan happens to be in town filming for his next biggie, London Dreams.

By the way, Golmaal Returns is ready to hit the big screens across the world on October 29.

But that's not all. Don't be surprised if you see Ajay Devgan walking down Oxford Street next month.

That's right! The actor is scheduled to arrive in London on September 27 to shoot his next big feature directed by Vipul Shah called London Dreams.

Accompanying him will be his co-star, and superstar of Bollywood, Salman Khan, and the new face from the south of India, Asin.

Now we all know that any film which Vipul Shah touches turns to gold but what is surprising is the fact that his lucky mascot, actor Akshay Kumar, is not a part of this mega-project. Akki, as he is fondly known in the industry, has worked with Vipul Shah in all his previous films and his absence from this film will definitely raise a few eyebrows.

Having said that, London Dreams also marks the return of Salman and Ajay together after their 1999 blockbuster hit Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. It'll be interesting to see how they transfer their magic on to the silver screen this time around after nearly a decade.

Vipul Shah's earlier film Namastey London was also set in the capital and with his great interest and love for this city, I am not at all surprised to see him come back and shoot the film here.

He has even managed to use the name 'London' for both his previous and new film titles. Whether this is down to superstition or not, I don't know, but what I do know for sure is that it will be a big film to watch out for next year.

New stars come and go, but seldom do truly great screen actors appear, performers of such intensity and focus they are near-guaranteed a long, illustrious and award-strewn career. Such an actor is Ajay Devgan.

Like many Indian acting talents before him, he faced being typecast as a hardcore action hero but, through a combination of hard study for his roles in films like Zakhm and Apaharan, and risky experiments like Golmaal, he rose above that demeaning destiny to become one of the very few National Award and Filmfare winners.

For the most part steering clear of big budget mainstream Bollywood projects, he has now cemented his reputation as both an artist and a character actor.