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Rs.390 to Rs.3.5 Crores. Ajith’s
journey of hardship, from nowhere to
stardom!! |
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In
an industry of glamour and hype, this
is the story of a man who made it
big without a godfather. He comes
across as the ultimate fighter and
no wonder he is called the Ultimate
Star. Yes, we are talking about Ajith
Kumar aka Thala. Today (May 1) is
his birthday and team behindwoods
joins his family, friends and thousands
of his fans to wish him. |
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His
journey so far is testimony to what resilience
can achieve. It is also an indicator of
the possible pitfalls. Born into a multiethnic
family, his mother is a Sindhi and father
Malayalee, Ajith dropped out of school early
and took to fixing up automobiles. It was
there that he picked up the penchant for
roaring engines. He became a keen bike racer.
He dabbled in small businesses before trying
out modeling to make good use of his handsome
looks. |
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His
first film was in 1992 in Telugu titled
Prema Pustagam which was a runaway
hit. In Tamil, he made his debut in
Amaravathi, for which he was paid
a paltry Rs. 390! His next film was
Pavitra which came after a gap of
17 months as he was recuperating from
a racing injury. With these two films,
Ajith came to be recognized as the
romantic hero of the next generation.
In an industry where a celebrity father
or producer would mean an easy passport
to stardom, Ajith built up his reputation
single-handedly from scratch. That
is also the reason why he is loved
despite some forgettable snipes in
the media. |
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In
1995 came Aasai and it changed his
destiny. The film which was directed
by Vasanth also had mind-blowing performance
by Prakashraj. With Aasai, Ajith became
established as the pining lover who
could rough up the baddies. The film
ran for 210 days and offers began
to pour. He followed it up in 1996
with Kadhal Kottai. Directed by Agathiyan,
this gentle romance became a runaway
hit and fetched a National award for
direction. Ajith had surely arrived.
Between 1996 and 1998, came a string
of films like Amarkalam, Uyirodu uyiraga,
Ullasam, Kadhal mannan, Rettai jadai
vayasu and Aval varuvala. Simran was
his pair in Aval varuvala. All these
films did well and brought him a good
name. But he was also hounded by constant
media attention about his health problems
and his on and off affair with actress
Heera. When she walked out on him,
he went into a depression. |
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He
strode out with Unnai thedi and Vaali. Vaali,
which marked the directorial debut of S.J.
Suryah was the unconventional story of a
man lusting for his unsuspecting younger
sibling’s wife, played by Simran.
Ajith did wonderfully as the two brothers.
The film ran for packed houses for 270 days!
Anandha poongatrey, Mugavari and Poovellam
un vasam were interesting films. |
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Ajith
moved on to being the action hero
with Dheena, Citizen, Red and Villain.
The fact that these films were being
released in more and more theatres
especially in rural areas and that
the distributors were happy that they
could recover a major portion in the
opening week, brought him the nickname,
King of opening. He has worked in
guest roles in many films mainly to
help out young directors. The audio
rights of one of his films, Kandukondein
kandukondein, were sold for 2.5 crores
– an unbeaten record so far! |
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Yet
there were some flip instances to what fame
and fortune could do to a perfectly simple
man. He started a long running war of words
with another young hero and in the process
antagonized several seniors in the industry.
Many felt that Ajith had probably acquired
a bloated ego to make up for professional
failures like Jana. He also refused to do
films and instead decided to take up Formula
3 racing. After finding reasonable success
on the track, he quit when he met with a
near-fatal accident. He came back with Anjaneya
and Ji, but both failed. |
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He
then set about with the task of making
up for lost time and regaining his
place in the industry. His first comeback
film, Paramasivan, released for Pongal
this year has been declared a hit.
His other release, Tirupathi, has
been doing moderately well. He has
shed a lot of weight and looks much
more dashing than ever. |
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He
met his beautiful wife, Shalini, while
working with her in Amarkalam. She
is the perfect anchor for the temperamental
Ajith and has been a steadying influence.
Ajith is committed to social causes
especially environmental protection.
He has converted his nearly 60000
fans associations into narpani mandrams.
All the members regularly carry out
socially relevant activities like
planting trees, cleaning slums or
relief activities during calamities
like tsunami, floods etc. |
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Ajith
is a sizzling hero on screen. Yet, off it
he remains a simple and accessible man who
adores his family and likes to keep his
privacy. He is also a concerned environmentalist
and does his bit for the cause.
Happy Birthday man, may you do many more
films and keep us entertained! |
