Ajith Kumar ( Tamil: அஜித் குமார்) (born May 1, 1971) is an Indian film actor and car racer, who has acted in manyTamil, Telugu and Hindi movies. Ajith Kumar made his acting debut in his only Telugu-language film-to-date, Prema Pustagam in 1992, which was followed by a Tamil (his mother tongue) film Amaravathi in the following year, his first lead role. After acting in a series of smaller budget films, Ajith was later recognized for his performance an anonymous lover in the award-winning movie Kadhal Kottai. He went on to demonstrate his versatility as an actor by portraying a variety of unique characters. Ajith received his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Vaali in 1999, portraying a double-role. He went on to win two consecutive Filmfare Best Actor Awards — in the 2001 film Citizen, in which he appeared in nine different appearances, and in the 2002 film, Villain, playing twins, one of which had a disability. He was later recognized for his triple role in Varalaru, his biggest grosser to date.He was recognised for his more sensitive character portrayal in Kireedam. Ajith thus established himself as one of the leading actors of contemporary Tamil cinema. In addition to being an actor, Ajith is a race driver, having driven in Formula Three for a season and an active ambassador for the Green Revolution. He used to be known in the Indian media for publicly speaking his mind and openly expressing his opinions, occasionally surrounding himself with controversy. However, in recent years, he has maintained a silent dignity to avoid problems that come with a controversial image.

Early life and education

Ajith Kumar was born in Hyderabad, India. Ajith is the middle son of three children. He's a Tamilian having roots from Thanjavur(popularly known as Tanjore) in Tamil Nadu. In his childhood he was brought up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He dropped out of Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School in 1986 to become a part-time two-four wheeler mechanic and a full-time garment exporter based in Erode till 1990. Business agencies pushed him into modelling for advertisements in print media. Ajith is also a good chef.

Early career

Ajith ( also called fondly as THALA and ULTIMATE STAR by his fans ) started his film career at the age of 21 as an actor in the Telugu movie Prema Pustagam in 1992 .[1] . His next film was the Tamil film Amaravathi. second Tamil film Pavithra[2] was delayed for 17 months because of a racing injury that left him bed-ridden . Both films received appreciation from the Tamil audience .[3] It was his third Tamil film that released 10 months later in 1995 , Aasai , directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Rathnam which helped establish his career as a teen icon in Kollywood .[4]Ajith's first big budget venture was Aasai but it was only after the release of Agathiyan's Vaanmathi and particularly the National Award winning Kadhal Kottai which established him as an accomplished actor in Kollywood . Ajith later played the lead in Amitabh Bachchan's debut Tamil production[5] Ullasam . This venture paid him a salary of over Rs.1 million for the first time ever . A string of successful movies followed, most notably Kadhal Mannan and the multiple award winning Vaali which cast him alongside Simran . Vaali saw a new peak in Ajith's career . He played a dual role in the film . One as a deaf-and-dumb twin who lusts after his naive brother's wife .[6][7]After Amarkalam[8] with his then-fiancee , now wife Shalini , Ajith set up his own distribution company AK International with the 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 . 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.66 million . Mugavari followed as Ajith acted alongside Jyothika .

Asoka and beyond

In 2001 , Ajith played the role of Shahrukh Khan's brother in the historical film Asoka. He began the year with the highly successful movie Dheena directed by A.R. Murugadas . This movie showed Ajith as a rowdy and he acted alongside Suresh Gopi and Laila . Several movies followed including the blockbuster Citizen opposite Vasundhara Das; romantic entertainers like Poovellam Un Vasam and Raja opposite Jyothika and the action flick Red .[10] In 2003 and 2004 , Ajith acted in Anjaneya , Jana and Attagasam opposite Meera Jasmine , Sneha , and Pooja respectively. Unfortunately none of the films met the expectations. Even then , Ajith didn't lose hope and acted in the film Ji opposite Trisha. The film did not do well as expected beforehand as the producers had failed to release the film when it was first made .

Billa and the future

By contrast, in 2006, Ajith acted in 3 projects. First he acted in Paramasivan directed P.Vasu and then in Thirupathi directed by Perarasu. Both were compeleted 100 days. Later that year he released his 3 years project Varalaru directed by K. S. Ravikumar . Varalaru turned out to be a blockbuster . He donned a triple role playing a father and two sons . The role got him a Filmfare award for best actor 2007 . Ajith's first film in 2007 was with the newcomer director Chella entitled Aalwar . Both Varalaru and Aalwar were opposite Asin . Aalwar did not live up to the expectations created by the success of Varalaru . As a result it was another major let down for Ajith . After Aalwar , Ajith acted in a remake of a 1989 National Award winning Mohanlal classic , titled Kireedam opposite Trisha Krishnan . The film was produced by Anil Ambani's conglomerate Adlabs Films and marked their entry into Kollywood . Ajith sustained a recurring spinal injury on the sets of the film. [11] Kireedam did well at box office and ajith called as king of opening . But Ajith was well appreciated for acting in such an emotional and different film. On Dec 14th 2007, Ajit's Magnus Opus BILLA released, the film got an massive release and was received positively all over the world, it was also the first Tamil movie to be released with subtitles in foreign countries. It turned out to be a blockbuster .The film was a remake of Rajinikanth's 1980 Tamil film Billa which itself was a remake of Amitabh Bachan's 1978 Hindi film Don which in turn was remade by Shah Rukh Khan in 2006 as Don again . The film was directed by Vishnuvardhan and expectations were high on this film with Nayanthara , Namitha and Rose Dawn pairing up with Ajith for the first time . After Billa , Ajith is currently filming for Aegan directed by Raju Sundaram . Ajith started filming for the film from January 2008 , possibly for a June 2008 release .Ajith will receive Rs 10 crores for billa-2; he is the only indian actor to receive more than Rs.8 crores after Kamal who was paid Rs 10 crores for Dasavatharam and Vijay who received Rs.8 crores for kuruvi and rajinikanth who received Rs. 16 crores for sivaji:the boss.

Family

Ajith began dating his Amarkalam co-star Shalini in 1999. At that time , their involvement made him a regular subject of tabloid gossip , a role to which he was unaccustomed . They were married in 2000 in Chennai , where they invited many other Kollywood actors and actresses including Rajnikanth, Kamal Hasan , Vijay , Surya and R. Madhavan . As both were of different religions , Ajith being a Hindu and Shalini being a Christian , they were married together in the customs of both religions . After their marriage in the year 2000 , Shalini retired as an actress and became a full time housewife . However she did accompany Ajith to the sets of his films as moral support . On January 3rd , 2008 , the couple were blessed with a baby girl , Anoushka .

Professional car racer

Ajith is a professional car racer and drove in circuits around India in places such as Mumbai , Chennai and Delhi . He had also been abroad for various races including Germany and Malaysia . He drove in the Formula 3 for the team Mango Racing . He was in 2004, India’s third best driver after Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandok.

Ambassador For The Green Revolution

Ajith is an ambassador for the Green Revolution , an organization to clean up the Chennai environment .[12] He uses his films for subtle marketing of his ideas and planted 101 saplings in his locality in Adyar , Chennai in 2004 . This was to make an awareness about the environment and to increase the oxygen levels in Chennai due to the pollution caused by everyday motorists . This action was welcomed by the public . Since then the Green Revolution themselves have went on to plant many saplings in other parts of Tamil Nadu.

Mohini-Mani Foundation

Ajith created this non-profit organisation named after his parents in order to promote self-hygiene and civic consciousness and to help ease the problems of urban sprawl .[13] The Mohini-Mani Foundation became important to Ajith from 2003 onwards and he now continues to fund the non-profit organisation to make sure he keeps helping to ease the problems of urban sprawl.