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Ajith Kumar

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Ultimate Star Ajith

Ajith (born May 1, 1971 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India) is a popular Indian Tamil actor and a race car driver with a huge fan following. He is affectionately called offscreen as Thala (The Head) by his fans in south Asia and is titled onscreen as Ultimate Star in his movies.

Film career

Ajith Kumar started his film career with a Telugu movie Prema Pustagam in 1992. The movie was an instant hit and the Telugu film industry immediately took notice of him awarding him the "Best New Face" award of that year. His next film was in Tamil - a musical hit called Amaravathi for which he was paid a salary of just Rs300! However his second film released after 17 months - another musical hit Pavithra. The delay was caused due to a bike accident that made him bed-ridden!


Both these films familiarised his lover-boy looks to the people of Tamil Nadu (South Indian state) and established him as a promising teen icon. One remarkable feature of his film career is that he has picked up atleast one award for his films every year from 1992 through 2002 from government, institutions and media! Almost all his 30+ films have been dubbed or remade into Telugu. In a industry without entry barriers for celebrity sons, Ajith was the only self-made hero in the Nineties who survived and prospered without any film background whatsoever. Remember, as late as 1990, he was still working as a garment exporter!


His third film released 10 months later. It was the biggest blockbuster hit of 1995 Aasai, which ran for 210 days, directed by Vasanth and came as a turning point for Ajith. It brought him immense name/face recognition in each and every Tamil household! It was such a runaway success that he began considering cinema as a viable full-time career option for the first time ever! Thereafter film offers poured in regularly!


His fourth release was Vaanmathi which was also a silver jubilee quickly followed by Kalluri Vasal which was a musical hit later dubbed into Telugu as College Gate! But it was Director Agathiyan's Kadhal Kottai which put him straight into the top slot. The film was a mega blockbuster hit and also received a National Award (award given by the Government of India) for the director. It ran for 240 days!


The musical hit Nesam cast him along with Maheshwari who reappeared in Amitabh Bachan's Ullasam for which his salary was raised to Rs15 lakhs! This was followed by a string of musical hits like Raasi, Rettai Jadai Vayasu, Kadhal Mannan, Uyirodu Uyiraga and the super blockbuster Aval Varuvala which cast him along with Simran.


Throughout 1997 and 1998, his personal life came under unprecedented media scrutiny with juicy tabloid gossip about his rocky relationship with actress Heera which ended in Thodarum when she reportedly walked out on him. Ajith went into depression throughout the shoot of the musical hit Unnai Thedi. It was in these troubled times that another mega blockbuster hit in his career Vaali arrived! This film helped Ajith solidify his reputation (despite all the media mudslinging) as the superstar of next generation! The film was a huge blockbuster hit - a thriller running packed houses for 270 days. From there on, there was no stopping him. He ruled with continuous hits like Anandha Poongaatrey, blockbuster Amarkkalam, Mughavari (salary Rs2 crores), blockbuster Dheena, Citizen and Poovellam Un Vaasam .


For the sake of survival and friendship in a industry with minimal entry barriers, Ajith had to resort to doing guest roles in a relatively large number of films like Paasamalargal, Rajavin Parvaiyiley, Minor Maappillai, Pagaivan, Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen, Nee Varuvai Ena, Kandukondain Kandukondain (its audio rights sale record price of Rs2.2 crores still remains unbeaten), Asoka and Ennai Thalatta Varuvala.


There were some hiccups in the form of films such as Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven which had outrageous plots but he came back strong with musical hits Red, Raja and Villain directed by K.S.Ravikumar, which was a tremendous blockbuster hit running 300 days! For Anjaneya, his salary peaked at Rs4 crores and its Telugu remake rights were sold for Rs85+ lacs average per area at the time of shoot itself!


But his grip on the world of Kollywood(Tamil Film world) weakened by choosing films such as Jana which were devoid of nativity. Still, his films took a thunderous opening worldwide. In 2004 the film Attahasam came as a welcome relief from his previous slew of average films. Ji opening triggered riots and mayhem in several districts. Such is his fan rage! Its Telugu version released in October 2005. Now, he has declared that there will be no more racing and he is going to concentrate only on acting. 2006 looks to be a great year as he has many big films waiting to be released. As of January 2006, he has over 60,000 registered fanclubs worldwide headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. His latest release Paramasivan has been declared as blockbuster by trade signalling one of the strongest comebacks in Kollywood history!


He is one of the few stars in India who guarantee minimum box office collections worth $4 million in the first week of release itself for his films! That's why film producers, distributors and exhibitors fondly call him King of Opening! His millions of fans worldwide are noted for their overt show of affection on the day of release of his films like performing camphor pooja, paal abishekam for his cutouts, offering special prayers, tonsuring heads and putting up fancy posters with catchy taglines!

Personal life

Ajith is the middle son of three, born to a Sindhi mother and Malayalee father. Ajith dropped out of school in 1986 to become a part-time 2/4-wheeler mechanic and full-time garment exporter till 1990. Business exigencies pushed him into modelling for adverts in print media which eventually paved the way into Tollywood and later, Kollywood.


After his surgery for a broken vertebra he lost feeling in his legs, but he took on a vow to recover and walked all the way from his home in Madras to the Balaji shrine in Tirupathi, in Andhra Pradesh. He shed 20 kilos in severe diet and fitness sessions within 20 days for his blockbuster Paramasivan produced by director P.Vasu! He is also called "The Phoenix" in close circles within the film industry in honour of his legendary self-confidence and resilience.


In Amarkkalam, he was paired with fellow actress Shalini for the first time. The film was a silver jubilee blockbuster hit, and Ajith fell in love with his leading lady, who he later married. Ajith is active in spreading awareness of the Green Revolution, an effort to clean up the Chennai environment and encouraging people to plant saplings. He uses his films for subtle marketing of his ideas in this regard.

Speciality

Ajith is especially known for his dual roles. In the film Vaali he played twins - one a carefree teenager and the other a mute business magnate carrying a torch for his brother's wife. Other dual roles were as a fisherman father and a freedom-fighting advocate son in Citizen, a handicapped innocent and an angry young man in Villain, and as a Tuticorin don and a driving school owner in Attahasam. He dons a much-anticipated triple role in the upcoming blockbuster Godfather - one of which is an effeminate! Grapevine further says that he is taking the role of a leper in director Bala's upcoming magnum opus Naan, Kadavul.


In Paramasivan climax, he performed breath-taking dare-devil stunts without props and professional dupe artistes like hands-free wheeling on bike while cruising at 80 miles per hour, skidding under a truck and jumping over a moving train! Though only 500 feet of footage of this legendary chase climax scenes were actually included in the film due to runtime constraints, this became the talk of the town prompting the producers to release a separate CD titled The Making of Paramasivan showing the full 15,000 feet of extra footage with runtime over 100 minutes!

Awards & achievements

As an actor

  • 'Special Actor' State Award in 2004 for the film Poovellam Un Vasam (2001)
  • Film fare Award, Cinema Express Award and Dinakaran Cinema Award for the film Vaali 1999
  • Film fare Award and Dinakaran Cinema Award for the film Villan in 2003
  • Best New Face Award from Bharatmuni Art Academy for his debut film 'Prema Pusthakam' (Telugu).
  • '200 days' Award for the movie Vaali.
  • '200 days' Award for the movie Kadhal Kottai.
  • '200 days' Award for the movie Aasai.
  • He is also a recipient of Cinema Express Best Artist Award for the year 2000.

As a race car driver

File:Ajith-race.jpg
Ajith
  • He has participated in the Indian Formula Maruthi Championshipsin 2002.
  • He has participated in the Formula 3 BMW Asia championships in 2003 for Indian Team.

Results : He got the 6th position in the 8th round and the 5th position in the 10th round. In total, he finished 12th among 20 drivers.

  • He participated in the British F3 Scholarship in 2004 for Mango Team.

Results : He got the 3rd position in the 2nd round and in the 8th round.

Punch Words & Dialogues

  • Vaanmathi - Leokappasa!
  • Dheena - Thala!
  • Red - Adhu!

Filmography

  • 1992 - Prema Pustagam (Telugu)
  • 1993 - Amaravathi
  • 1994 - Pasamalargal (guest)
  • 1994 - Pavithra
  • 1995 - Rajavin Parvaiyiley (Yuva Raktam in Telugu) (guest)
  • 1995 - Aasai (Aasa Aasa Aasa in Telugu)
  • 1996 - Vaanmathi
  • 1996 - Kalluri Vasal (College Gate in Telugu)
  • 1996 - Minor Mappilai (guest)
  • 1996 - Kathal Kotai (Prema Lekha in Telugu)
  • 1997 - Nesam
  • 1997 - Raasi
  • 1997 - Ullasam (Ullasam in Telugu)
  • 1997 - Pagaivan (guest)
  • 1997 - Rettai Jadai Vayasu
  • 1998 - Kathal Mannan
  • 1998 - Aval Varuvala
  • 1998 - Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen (guest)
  • 1998 - Uyirodu Uyiraga
  • 1999 - Thodarum
  • 1999 - Unnai Thedi (Premato Pilicha in Telugu)
  • 1999 - Vaali (Vaali in Telugu)
  • 1999 - Aanandha Poongaatrey
  • 1999 - Nee Varuvai Ena (guest)
  • 1999 - Amarkalam (Adhbutam in Telugu)
  • 2000 - Mughavari (Chirunama in Telugu)
  • 2000 - Kandukondain Kandukondain (Priyuralu Pilichindi in Telugu)
  • 2000 - Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven
  • 2001 - Dheena
  • 2001 - Citizen (Citizen in Telugu)
  • 2001 - Poovellam Un Vaasam
  • 2001 - Asoka (Hindi) (Samrat Asoka in Tamil) (guest)
  • 2002 - Red
  • 2002 - Raja (Nuvvu Naaku Kavali in Telugu)
  • 2002 - Villain (Villain in Telugu)
  • 2003 - Ennai Thalatta Varuvala (guest)
  • 2003 - Anjaneya
  • 2004 - Jana (Rowdy Don in Telugu)
  • 2004 - Attagasam
  • 2005 - Ji (Ji in Telugu)
  • 2006 - Paramasivan
  • 2006 - Godfather

Upcoming movies

  • Tirupathi - Directed by Perarasu,Produced by the Legendary AVM, Cast: Ajith, Sadha
  • Naan, Kadavul - Directed by Bala,Produced by Sri Rajalakshmi Films Pvt Ltd., Cast: Ajith, Meera Jasmine

Trivia

  • He is a professional bike racer.
  • He is the third Indian to take part in international Formula 3 race competitions.The others being Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandok
  • He owns a pilot licence.
  • He is professional photographer.
  • He is learning to play violin
  • He has won local Badminton tournaments.
  • His fanbase doubled between Dheena and Villain and again doubled between Attagasam and Paramasivan

External links

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