Ajith Kumar

Ajith Kumar (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema.

To date, he has starred in over 61 films, and his awards include four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.

Ajith Kumar was born on 1 May 1971.

His father, P. Subramaniam (died 2023 ), was born in Thanjavur with roots in Palakkad, Kerala and his mother, Mohini, is Sindhi from Kolkata, West Bengal.

Ajith was the middle son out of three brothers, the others being Anup Kumar, an investor, and Anil Kumar, an IIT Madras graduate-turned-entrepreneur.

Ajith dropped out of Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School during his tenth grade, before he had completed his higher secondary schooling.

Through a family friend who worked with the Enfield company, Ajith was able to get a job as an apprentice and spent six months training to be a mechanic.

He later quit the role at the insistence of his father, who wanted Ajith to have a white-collar job, and joined another family friend's garment exporting company as an apprentice.

He eventually progressed to become a business developer and regularly travelled throughout the country on sales assignments, improving his English-speaking skills.

After resigning from the role, Ajith set up a textiles business distributing fabric alongside three other partners.

The business venture underperformed prompting Ajith to take up another job in the garments industry.

During the period, Ajith also began working on modelling assignments alongside his work.

He was notably scouted by P. C. Sreeram during the making of a commercial for Hercules Cycle and Motor Company, who felt he had the appearance to become an actor.

He began his career with a small role in the 1990 Tamil romantic drama En Veedu En Kanavar.

Ajith began his acting career through a one-scene appearance as a school child in En Veedu En Kanavar (1990).

Through the recommendation of S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, whose son was a classmate of Ajith, he was cast in his first lead role in the Telugu romantic drama Prema Pusthakam (1993), which remains his only Telugu film to date.

However, the shoot of the film was stalled soon after production began, following the death of the film's director Gollapudi Srinivas.

As a result, his first major theatrical release was the Tamil romantic drama Amaravathi (1993), which Ajith had signed after being recommended to director Selva by Balasubrahmanyam, who had seen parts of Prema Pusthakam prior to its delay.

As the film went into post-production, Ajith was bed-ridden due to a racing injury while training for an amateur motor race.

He underwent three major surgeries resulting in bed rest for one and a half years.

As a result, his voice in the film was dubbed by actor Vikram.

Following the injury, Ajith was keen to make up for lost time and signed on to play supporting roles.

In the following years, he played character roles in the Arvind Swami-starrer Paasamalargal (1994) and Vijay-starrer Rajavin Parvaiyile (1995).

He was also seen in the family drama Pavithra (1994), which featured him as an ailing patient shown maternal affection from Radhika.

Ajith's first commercially successful film as a lead actor was the romantic thriller Aasai (1995).

He established himself as a romantic hero with Kadhal Kottai (1996), Aval Varuvala (1998) and Kaadhal Mannan (1998), and established himself as an action hero starting with the film Amarkalam (1999).

Ajith's dual portrayal of twin brothers—where one is deaf-mute—in S. J. Suryah's Vaali (1999) won him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.

He earned critical acclaim for his dual roles in the vigilante film Citizen (2001).

He drove in the 2003 Formula Asia BMW Championships.

In 2006, he starred in Varalaru, in which he played three different roles.

It became the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2006, and earned him another Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.

The following year he starred in two remakes—Kireedam (2007) and Billa (2007), both of which earned him critical acclaim.

In addition to his acting career, Ajith is also a sports car racer and participated in the MRF Racing series (2010).

He became a race car driver, competing in circuits around India in places such as Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi.

He is one among very few Indians to race in the International arena and in Formula championships.

Based on the annual earnings of Indian celebrities, he was included in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list three times.

He raced in the 2010 Formula 2 Championship along with two other Indians, Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaren.

Ajith played a villain protagonist in Mankatha (2011), which became one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time.

His next release, Billa II (2012), was Tamil cinema's first prequel.

Ajith has also been abroad for various races, including Germany and Malaysia.