Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 17:31, 11 April 2007

Ajith Kumar (Tamil: அஜித் குமார்) (born in Hyderabad, India on May 1, 1971) is an Indian film actor. He began his career doing various jobs in Andhra Pradesh, while also attending a theatre for stage plays, to follow his dream to act. After three years of acting in minor roles and small-budget ventures in Indian films, Ajith Kumar gained the Indian cinema's attention in 1995 by playing the role of Jeeva in Aasai, his first blockbuster and since then he has acted in over forty Indian films, with his main option being the Tamil Cinema industry. He is nicknamed Ultimate Star by his fans and credited as such in his movies. He has high fan followings in the Indian subcontinent, Europe and The Far East. Ajith Kumar, before retiring in 2005, was a motor car racer, taking part in Formula 3 championships for the minor outfit, Mango Racing. He was in 2004, India's third best driver after Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandok.

An accomplished dramatic actor and celebrity, he has won several awards at a regional award including State Awards from Tamil Nadu. Ajith Kumar performs predominantly in leading roles in high-budget and major studio films, ranging from romantic comedies and drama to science fiction and action thrillers. His most popular films include Kadhal Kottai (1996), Vaali (1999), Villain (2002), and Varalaru (2006). He is married to fellow Indian actress, Shalini.

Early life and education

Born Ajith Kumar in Hyderabad, India. Ajith is the middle son of three children others being Anil and Anup Kumar, born in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh, India) to a Sindhi mother and Palghat Tamil Iyer father. Ajith dropped out of Asan Memorial Sr. Sec. School in 1986 to become a part-time 2/4-wheeler mechanic and full-time garment exporter based in Erode till 1990. Business exigencies pushed him into modelling for adverts in print media which eventually paved the way into Tollywood and later into Tamil films. After his surgery for a broken vertebra he lost feeling in his legs, but he vowed to recover and walked all the way from his home in Madras to the Balaji Shrine in Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh. He was romantically linked to fellow actress Heera and met future wife Shalini on the sets of Amarkalam in 1999.

Film career

1990s

Ajith started his film career at the age of 21 in a Telugu movie Prema Pustagam in 1992, he won the Best New Face Award for his performance.. His next film was in Tamil entitled Amaravathi for which he was paid a token salary of Rs.390. His second Tamil film Pavithra was delayed for 17 months because of a racing injury that left him bed-ridden. Both films received appreciation from the Tamil audience. It was his third Tamil film that released 10 months later in 1995, Aasai, directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Rathnam which became his first blockbuster that kickstarted his career as a teen icon in Kollywood. In Aasai, Suvalakshmi was cast opposite Ajith. The story was that Prakashraj wanted to marry Suvalakshmi from being her sister's husband. According to Tamilcinema.com, the film grossed almost Rs.50 million at the box office playing for 210 days successfully.

Ajith's first big budget venture Kalloori Vaasal was with Prashanth and Pooja Bhatt, but only after Agathiyan's Vaanmathi and particularly the National Award winning blockbuster Kadhal Kottai, he established himself as an accomplished actor in Kollywood. Kadhal Kottai grossed almost Rs.100 million at the box office playing for 240 days successfully. Back in the mid-nineties, it was a unprecedented figure for a newcomer. The film was narrated such that the leading hero and heroine do not meet each other until the climax. The film is regarded as a classic that spawned several clones with the prefix Kadhal... in the title. Ajith later played in Amitabh Bachchan's debut Tamil production in Ullasam that cast Vikram in guest role. This venture paid him a salary of over Rs.5 million for the first time ever.

A string of successful movies followed, most notably Kadhal Mannan and Aval Varuvala and the multiple award winning blockbuster Vaali which cast him alongside Simran. Vaali saw a new peak in Ajith's career. The film grossed almost Rs.200 million at the box office playing for 270 days successfully. He played a dual role in the film as a deaf-and-dumb twin who lusts after his naive brother's wife.

After doing the blockbuster Amarkalam with his fiancee Shalini, Ajith set up his own distribution company AK International with office located within the premises of NIC Arts which was run by his friend-producer-distributor S.S.Chakravarthi. This office was shifted in 2006.

2000s

Unlike the nineties when Ajith films had urban romantic plots, the noughts saw Ajith films with wide-ranging plots based on social issues and civic responsibilities like MGR since the 1950s.

In 2000, Ajith was cast alongside Mammooty, Abbas, Tabu and Aishwarya Rai in Kandukondain Kandukondain. The film's audio rights were sold for a record Rs.22 million. This record still remains unbeaten 7 years hence. Mugavari followed as Ajith acted in alongside Jyothika. The melodramatic plot details the travails of an ambitious poor musician who is forced to choose between his love and career and later between his career and family, this continued Ajith's successful run in the industry.

In 2001, Ajith played the role of Shahrukh Khan's brother in the period film Asoka. He began the year with Dheena by A.R.Murugadas. This showed Ajith as a rowdy alongside Suresh Gopi and Laila. The film gave the present cult image of Thala to Ajith. Several anticipated movies followed: among them the cult film Citizen opposite Vasundhara Das; romantic entertainers like Poovellam Un Vasam and Raja opposite Jyothika and the action tale Red.

He won the South India Filmfare Best Actor Award for Villain, directed by K. S. Ravikumar. Villain, in which he once again donned a dual role, grossed almost Rs.300 million at the box office marking a new peak in Ajith's career. By then the Kollywood trade had unanimously begun calling him the King of Opening.

In 2003 and 2004, Ajith acted in Anjaneya, Jana and Attagasam opposite Meera Jasmine, Sneha and Pooja respectively. Anjaneya created a new record for Telugu rights reported at almost Rs.9 million offered by Dr.Rajasekar while Ajith's salary reached a peak of almost Rs.50 million for the film but he waived it when the film did not match expectations. Jana too did not perform as expected and Ajith suffered some nasty high profile fracas with its producer. So, he declared an end to motor racing and Attagasam, in which he donned a dual role again, consequently hit the jackpot.

In 2005, Ajith acted in the film Ji opposite Trisha. Project delays by director Bala and producer Chakravarthi forced him to sit idle for the rest of the year. He thus released only 4 films in the three years from 2003 through 2005.

By contrast, in 2006, Ajith acted in three successful projects, Paramasivan directed P.Vasu, Thirupathi directed by Perarasu and particularly Varalaru directed by K. S. Ravikumar. This is his comeback movie since Villain. Varalaru emerged as the biggest grosser of the year earning almost Rs.500 million, reports India Today. It also became the biggest hit in Ajith's career till date.

Ajith's latest film is with the newcomer director Chella entitled Aalwar. Both Varalaru and Aalwar were opposite Asin. Aalwar is now playing towards 100th day despite media criticism of content and presentation. It also turned out to be the widest release in Ajith's career till date. After Aalwar, Ajith reported to do a remake of a 1989 National Award winning Mohanlal classic, entitled Kireedam opposite Trisha. This film is produced by Anil Ambani's conglomerate Adlabs Films and will mark their entry into Kollywood. He sustained a recurring spinal injury on the sets of the film.

However, Ajith's most prestigious venture of 2007 is Billa 007 which is scheduled for Deepavali release. The film is a remake of Rajinikanth's 1980 Tamil blockbuster Billa which itself was a remake of Amitabh Bachan's 1978 Hindi blockbuster Don which in turn was remade by Shah Rukh Khan in 2006 as Don again.

Personal life

Relationships and family

Ajith's most famous romance was with actress Heera in the late 1990s. Ajith and Heera first met during film shootings around Chennai. Heera claims that Ajith's sense of humour attracted her to him though they acted in only two films together from 1996 through 1999. After Ajith's working relationship with Heera ended in early 1999, he began dating his Amarkalam co-star Shalini. Ajith's involvement with Shalini also made him a regular subject of tabloid gossip then, a role to which he was unaccustomed. They married in the year 2000.

Religious Issues

Ajith’s wife Shalini is Christian whereas he is Hindu. The marriage itself was held as both a Hindu and Christian ceremony.

It was cinema that gave me an identity, popularity and also enabled me to meet Shalini, whom I ultimately married.

Professional Sportsman

Professional Motorcyclist

Ajith Kumar is a professional motorcyclist who drove in circuits around India in places such as Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. He had also been abroad in his various races including Germany and Malaysia. At home he owns a Yamaha YZF-R1 motorcycle. Ajith then turned this into a distant hobby as he continued acting at his best, but he moved on to develop a new hobby of car racing for Formula 3 and for the Japanese company Mango Racing.

Professional Motorcar Racer

Ajith Kumar is a professional motorcar racer, who drove in circuits around India in places such as Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. He had also been abroad in his various races including Germany and Malaysia. At home he owns a BMW.

I’ve always had a need for speed. Ever since I sat in a car I wanted to be a professional racer. Lots of people have told me how difficult it is. But I’m not going to fail and I’ve never given anything less than my best shot in all my endeavors.

Charity Work

Ambassador For The Green Revolution

Ajith Kumar is a ambassador for the Green Revolution , an effort to clean up the Chennai environment and encouraging people to. He uses his films for subtle marketing of his ideas in this regard. Ajith lead the way in greening his locality in Adyar, Chennai where he planted 101 saplings.

He believes it is our duty to preserve our environment. Ajith Fans Welfare Association along with Exnora International has decided on a series of programmes to grow many new forms of life.

Mohini-Mani Foundation

Ajith Kumar created this non-profit making organisation in order to promote self-hygiene and civic consciousness make the urban sprawl a better place to live in. The name of this organisation is named after his parents, who fully support him in this project to find social workers.

Awards

Ajith over the years in the industry and in this profession has won many awards, when he started acting he won the Best New Face Award from Bharatmuni Art Academy for his debut film Prema Pustagam in Telugu. After this award he won three, a Filmfare Award, a Cinema Express Award and a Dinakaran Cinema Award for the film Vaali in 1999. He then won another Cinema Express - Best Artist Award for the film Mugavari in 2000.

In 2001 he won the Special Actor - State Award for the film Poovellam Un Vasam. He then won another Filmfare Award and another Dinakaran Cinema Award for the film Villain in 2002. Ajith Kumar has also won the Filmfare Best Actor Award South on two occasions and Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award (Tamil) for the Movie Kandukondain Kandukondain. On one occasion J.Jayalalitha presented him with a State Award.

Filmography

Notes

1. Mechanic turns Actor
2. Ajith says bye to Heera
3. Best New Face: Ajith Kumar
4. Ajith Kumar in Tamil
5. Ajith in Pavitra
6. Ajith in Pavitra
7. Aasai turns into a blockbuster
8. Amitabh produces Ullasam
9. Stars get together for Ullasam
10. Suryah's Vaali with Ajith and Simran
11. Ajith and Simran join hands again
12. Amarkalam sets a new trend
13. KK all set and ready to go
14. Mugavari for Ajith
15. Red the colour for Ajith
16. Best Actor
17. Awards Galore for Ajith
18. Attagasam hits, while Jana flops for Ajith
19. Ajith and Trisha join hands for Ji
20. Parasivan sets the road out for revival
21. Good Showing
22. Big for Thala
23. Ajitn injured in sets of Kireedam
24. Ajith to remake Billa
25. Ajith splits with Heera
26. We love each other
27. Ajith ti participate in F3 races in UK
28. Mango Racing sign Ajith Kumar
29. Ajith ti participate in F3 races in UK
30. plant saplings Ajtih Plants Saplings
31. Ajith's Chariable Side

External links

• Ajith Kumar at IMDb

Trivia

• Ajith has over 70,000 registered fanclubs worldwide as of January 2007.

• Indian actors
• Telugu people
• Tamil actors
• Living people
• British Formula Three Championship drivers