Ajith Kumar

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Ajith Kumar
Birth name	Ajith Kumar
Born	1 May 1971 Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Other name(s)	Ultimate Star, Thala
Spouse(s)	Shalini Kumar
Notable roles	Surya in Kadhal Kottai Shiva/Deva in Vaali Shiva/Vishnu in Villain Shivshankar/Jeeva/Vishnu in Varalaru

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 earning him the prestigous title of Ultimate Star in 1999, the title name is now mentioned in the credits of all his projects. He is currently South India's most popular actor, with fan bases worldwide beating the number of fans for Rajinikanth. 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.

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Film career 2.1 1990s 2.2 2000s 3 Personal life 3.1 Relationships and family 3.2 Religious Issues 4 Professional Sportsman 4.1 Professional Motorcyclist 4.2 Professional Driver 5 Charity Work 5.1 Ambassador For The Green Revolution 5.2 Mohini-Mani Foundation 6 Awards 7 Filmography 8 Notes 9 External links

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^[1] 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^[2] 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.^[3]. His next film was in Tamil entitled Amaravathi for which he was paid a token salary of Rs.390.^[4] His second Tamil film Pavithra^[5] was delayed for 17 months because of a racing injury that left him bed-ridden. Both films received appreciation from the Tamil audience.^[6] It was his third Tamil film that released 10 months later in 1995, Aasai, directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Rathnam which proved to kick start his career as an actor in Kollywood. In Aasai, Suvalakshmi was cast opposite Ajith. The story was that Prakashraj wanted to marry Suvalakshmi from being her sister's husband.^[7]

Ajith's first big venture Kalloori Vaasal was with Prashanth and Pooja Bhatt, but it failed to deliver. But only after Agathiyan's Vaanmathi and particularly the National Award winning super blockbuster Kadhal Kottai, he established himself as an accomplished actor in Kollywood. Kadhal Kottai grossed almost Rs.100 million playing for 240 days successfully. Back in the mid-nineties, it was a unprecedented figure for a newcomer. The film was filmed as such that the leading hero and heroine do not meet each other until the climax. The film spawned several clones with the prefix Kadhal... in the title. He played in Amitabh Bachchan's debut Tamil production^[8] in Ullasam that cast Vikram in guest role. This venture paid him a salary of over Rs.2 million.^[9]

A string of successful movies followed, most notably Kadhal Mannan and Aval Varuvala and the award-winning Vaali which cast him alongside Simran. Vaali saw a new peak in Ajith's career. The film grossed almost Rs.200 million playing for 270 days successfully. He played a dual role in the film as a handicapped twin who lusts after his brother's wife.^[10][11]

After doing the blockbuster Amarkalam^[12] with his future wife 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 civil responsibilities which seemed to be the trend amonst Kollywood actors.

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, making the film itself successful.^[13] 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.^[14]

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 image of Thala to Ajith. Several anticipated movies followed: among them the cult film Citizen opposite Vasundhara Das and Poovellam Un Vasam and Raja opposite Jyothika and Red.^[15] Raja and Red did not prove its worth in the box office and Ajith's movie choices were once again questioned by the public.

He won the South India Filmfare Best Actor Award for Villain, directed by K. S. Ravikumar.^[16] 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.^[17]

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 with sales reported at almost Rs.9 million but however miserabily flopped in Kollywood while Ajith's salary reached a peak of almost Rs.20 million for the film but he waived it fully when the film did not perform as expected. 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.^[18]

In 2005, Ajith acted in the film Ji opposite Trisha. Various other injuries whilst driving in Formula 3 meant he was injured for the rest of the year. He thus released only 4 films in the three years from 2003 to 2005 due to his passion for motor racing.^[19]

In 2006, Ajith acted in three successful projects, Paramasivan^[20] directed P.Vasu, Thirupathi^[21] 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.^[22]

Ajith's latest film is with the newcomer director Chella entitled Aalwar. Both Varalaru and Aalwar were opposite Asin. Aalwar failed to deliever the goods as the director was inexperienced, but however claimed to bet the biggest 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 an injury on the sets of the film.^[23]

However, Ajith's most prestigious venture of 2007 is Billa 2007 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.^[24]

Personal life

Relationships and family

Ajith's most famous romance was with actress Heera for most of the 1990s. Ajith and Heera first met during film shootings around Chennai. Heera claims that Ajith's sense of humor attracted her to him. They went on to act three films together between 1995 to 1998. After Ajith's working relationship with Heera^[25] diminished in 1998, she began dating her Amarkalam co-star Shalini. Ajith's involvement with Shalini also made his a regular subject of tabloid magazines and media at the time, a role to which he was unaccustomed. They ended up getting married to each other in the year 2000.

Religious Issues

Ajith’s wife Shalini is Christian whereas he is Hindu, this caused a minor conflict within their love, however the couple saw out their differences, to get married in 2000. The marriage itself was held as both a Hindu and Christian ceremony.^[26]

“

It was cinema that gave me an identity, popularity and also enabled me to meet Shalini, whom I ultimately married.[27]

”

Professional Sportsman

Professional Motorcyclist

Ajith Kumar is a professional motorcyclist, drives in circuits around India in places such as Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. He had also been abroad in his various races he has also gone abroad to places such as Germany, at home he owns a Yamaha. The Yamaha YZF-R1 motorcycle, introduced in 1998, was the first significant motorcycle in the true liter class (1,000 cc) "handling arms race" between the Japanese Big Four motorcycle manufacturers (Honda, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Suzuki and Yamaha Motor Corporation). When introduced, it took the class closer to a true racing motorcycle, and increased the handling capabilities. Ajith then turned this into a distant hobby as he continued acting at his best, but he decided to develop a new hobby of car racing for Formula 3 and for the Japanese company Mango Racing.^[28]

Professional Driver

Ajith Kumar is a professional driver, drives in circuits around India in places such as Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. He had also been abroad in his various races he has also gone abroad to places such as Germany, at home he owns a BMW. Ajith then turned this into a distant hobby as he continued acting at his best, but he decided to develop a new hobby of car racing for Formula 3 and for the Japanese company Mango Racing.^[29]

“

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.[30]

”

Charity Work

Ambassador For The Green Revolution

Ajith Kumar is an ambassador for the Green Revolution , an effort to clean up the Chennai environment and encouraging people to.^[31] He uses his films for subtle marketing of his ideas in this regard. Ajith lead the way in greening his locality in Adyar, Chennai he planted 101 saplings on Sunday 26th December. Ajith believed recent studies show that global warming is a major threat and will cause dire consequences. He believed 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. The term Green Revolution is used to describe the transformation of agriculture in many developing nations that led to significant increases in cereal production between the 1940s and 1960s. This transformation occurred as the result of programs of agricultural research, extension, and infrastructural development largely funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and national governments. The term “Green Revolution” was first used by former USAID director William Gaud in 1968. The rapid spread of modern wheat and rice varieties throughout Asia and other developments in the field of agriculture contain the makings of a new revolution. The Green Revolution has had major social and ecological impacts, which have drawn intense praise and equally intense criticism.^[32]

Mohini-Mani Foundation

Ajith Kumar created this organization in order to help people to come to their senses and tidy up after themselves and make India and Chennai a better place to live in, as currently India is in extreme poverty,^[33] and being a man that is moderately rich he wishes to make an effect in Tamil Nadu. The name of this organisatrion is named after his mum and dad, who fully support him in this project to find social workers. Ajith has no problem finding social workers as he has plenty of fans around the world anyway, so he can tell them what he want. On some days when he is free of acting Ajith helps out making Tamil Nadu a better place to live in. He hopes that many other actors will follow his ways and get supporters to do this for the State. As this was set up when he was in love with Shalini, one suggests that it was her who influenced him to do this and she enjoys helping him out with his duties.^[34]

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

Year	Film	Co-Stars	Director	Language	Role	Notes
2007	Billa	Shriya, Nayanthara	Vishnuvardhan	Tamil	Billa	Remake of 1980 film, Billa
2007	Kireedam	Trisha Krishnan	Vijay Anand	Tamil		Remake of National Award winning 1989 Malayalam blockbuster
2007	Aalwar	Asin, Keerthi Chawla	Chella	Tamil	Aalwar, Shiva
2006	Varalaru	Asin, Kanika	K. S. Ravikumar	Tamil	Shivshankar, Vishnu, Jeeva
2006	Thirupathi	Sadha, Laila	Perarasu	Tamil	Thirupathi	Dubbed into Telugu as Tirupathi
2006	Paramasivan	Laila, Rahasya	P.Vasu	Tamil	Paramasivan	Dubbed into Telugu as Paramasivam
2005	Ji	Trisha	Lingusamy	Tamil	Vasu	Dubbed into Telugu as Ji
2004	Attagasam	Pooja	Saran	Tamil	Guru, Jeeva
2004	Jana	Sneha	Shaji Kailas	Tamil	Jana	Dubbed into Telugu as Rowdy Don
2003	Anjaneya	Meera Jasmine	Maharajan	Tamil	Paramaguru	Dubbed into Telugu as Aacharyam
2003	Ennai Thalatta Varuvala	Reshma	KS Ravindran	Tamil	Satish	Played a guest role
2002	Villain	Kiran Rathod, Meena	K.S. Ravikumar	Tamil	Shiva, Vishnu	Winner: Filmfare Best Actor Award (Tamil) Remade in Telugu as Villain by Dr.Rajasekar
2002	Raja	Jyothika, Priyanka Trivedi, Manthra	Ezhil	Tamil	Raja	Dubbed into Telugu as Nuvvu Naaku Kavali
2002	Red	Priya Gill	Ram Sathya	Tamil	Red
2001	Asoka	Kareena Kapoor	Santhosh Sivan	Hindi	Suseema	Played a guest role, dubbed into Tamil as Samrat Ashoka
2001	Poovellam Un Vasam	Jyothika, Yukta Mukhi	Ezhil	Tamil	Chinna
2001	Citizen	Vasundhara Das, Meena, Nagma	Saravana Subayah	Tamil	Anthony	Dubbed into Telugu as Citizen
2001	Dheena	Laila, Nagma	A. R. Murugadoss	Tamil	Dheena
2000	Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven	Simran, Suhasini	Kavee Kalidas	Tamil	Surya
2000	Kandukondain Kandukondain	Aishwariya Rai, Tabu, Pooja Batra	Rajeev Menon	Tamil	Manohar	Winner: Filmfare Best Movie Award (Tamil) Winner: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award (Tamil) Dubbed into Telugu as Priyuralu Pilichindi
2000	Mugavari	Jyothika	Durai	Tamil	Sridhar	Dubbed into Telugu as Chirunama
1999	Amarkalam	Shalini	Saran	Tamil	Vasu	Dubbed into Telugu as Adhbutam
1999	Nee Varuvai Ena	Devayani	Rajakumaran	Tamil	Subramani	Played a guest role
1999	Anandha Poongatre	Meena, Malavika, Bhanupriya	Raj Kapoor	Tamil	Jeeva
1999	Vaali	Simran, Jyothika	S. J. Suryah	Tamil	Shiva, Deva	Winner: Filmfare Best Actor Award (Tamil) Dubbed into Hindi as Vaalee and into Telugu as Vaale
1999	Unnai Thedi	Malavika, Swathi, Kushboo	Sundar C	Tamil	Raghu	Dubbed into Telugu as Premato Pilicha
1999	Thodarum	Devayani, Heera	Ramesh Khanna	Tamil	Anand
1998	Uyirodu Uyiraga	Richa	Sushma	Tamil	Shiva
1998	Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen	Roja	Vikraman	Tamil	Sanjay	Played a guest role
1998	Aval Varuvala	Simran	Raj Kapoor	Tamil	Jeeva	Remade from Telugu
1998	Kadhal Mannan	Manu	Saran	Tamil	Shiva
1997	Rettai Jadai Vayasu	Manthra	Sivakumar	Tamil	Vijay
1997	Pagaivan	Reshma	T.Rajasekar	Tamil	Prabhu	Played a guest role
1997	Ullasam	Maheshwari	JD-Jerry	Tamil	Guru	Dubbed into Telugu as Ullasam
1997	Raasi	Rambha	Muraliappas	Tamil	Kumar
1997	Nesam	Maheshwari	Narayan	Tamil	Nathan
1996	Kadhal Kottai	Devayani, Heera	Agathiyan	Tamil	Surya	Dubbed into Telugu as Prema Lekha Winner: National Award for Best Director
1996	Minor Maappillaigal	Anjala Zhaveri	A.Manohar	Tamil	Sunil	Played a guest role
1996	Kalloori Vaasal	Pooja Bhatt, Devayani	Pavithran	Tamil	Vijay	Dubbed into Telugu as College Gate
1996	Vaanmathi	Swathi	Agathiyan	Tamil	Sunil
1995	Aasai	Suvalakshmi	Vasanth	Tamil	Jeeva	Winner: Filmfare Best Movie Award (Tamil) Dubbed into Telugu as Aasa Aasa Aasa
1995	Rajavin Parvaiyile	Suvalakshmi	Manmohan	Tamil	Jithan	Played a guest role, dubbed into Telugu as Yuva Raktam
1994	Pavithra	Keerthana	Nitin	Tamil	Ashok	Dubbed into Telugu as Pavithra
1994	Paasamalargal	Revathi	Ramesh Kumar	Tamil	Kumar	Played a guest role
1993	Amaravathi	Sanghavi	Ramesh Kumar	Tamil	Kumar
1992	Prema Pustagam	Thangana	Pawan	Telugu	Siddhatha

Notes

External links

• Ajith Kumar at the Internet Movie Database