Ajith Kumar
Actor ● Supporting Actor ● Playback Singer
Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor, who grew up in Chennai, for a predominant part of his life and is widely regarded as one of the leading stars in Tamil Cinema. In his pursuit to achieve excellence in racing, he worked on a couple of ventures to finance his racing activities before embarking upon his journey as an actor.
At the age of 20, he took up a role as a supporting actor in a Telugu film Prema Pustakam (1992), and was chosen, in a string of movies to play the romantic hero. A Tamil thriller, Aasai (1995), gained critical acclaim and established him as an actor who could handle intense and complex roles with ease. Since then he has built a special reputation for having huge box-office openings. Amongst his biggest successes are, Kadhal Kottai (1996), Kadhal Mannan (1998), Vaali (1999), Amarkalam (1999), Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), Citizen (2001) and Billa (2007).
As one of the most popular and beloved stars of Tamil Nadu, he is fondly referred to as ‘Thala’, a word that translates to ‘leader’ and provides a hint to the sort of love and power he wields over the hearts of the people of the State.
Amongst numerous awards and accolades he has received for his remarkable achievements in cinema, the most notable is the Kalaimamani honour from the State Govt. of Tamil Nadu in the year 2000.
Born on: 1 May, 1971
Born in: Hyderabad, India
Height: 5' 11"
Nickname(s): Thala
Relationships:
Wife: Shalini Kumar
Trivia:
The actor, who works mainly in the Tamil film industry, is the middle son of three, born to a Sindhi speaking mother from Kolkatta and Palakkad Iyer father.
Active in spreading awareness of the Green Revolution, an effort to clean up the Chennai environment and encouraging people to plant saplings.
Was a salesman in the garment export business for a while, and also tried a career in modeling. He starred in a few commercial advertisements, which eventually led him to the film industry.
In "Armarkalam", he was paired with fellow actress Shalini for the first time. The film was a super-hit, and Ajith instantly fell for his leading lady, who was to later become his wife. He even remembers the date and time he first met her: March 17, 1999 at 10.30am.
Initially dropped out of school to become a race-car driver.
He has participated in Formula 2 car racing.
After his surgery for a broken vertebra he lost feeling in his legs, but he took on a vow to recover and walked all the way from his home in Madras to the Balaji shrine in Tirupathi, in Andhra Pradesh.
Active in spreading awareness of the Green Revolution, an effort to clean up the Chennai environment and encouraging people to plant saplings.
Was a salesman in the garment export business for a while, and also tried a career in modeling. He starred in a few commercial advertisements, which eventually led him to the film industry.
In "Armarkalam", he was paired with fellow actress Shalini for the first time. The film was a super-hit, and Ajith instantly fell for his leading lady, who was to later become his wife. He even remembers the date and time he first met her: March 17, 1999 at 10.30am.
Initially dropped out of school to become a race-car driver.
He has participated in Formula 2 car racing.
After his surgery for a broken vertebra he lost feeling in his legs, but he took on a vow to recover and walked all the way from his home in Madras to the Balaji shrine in Tirupathi, in Andhra Pradesh.
