Ajith Kumar, a self-made star who remains a source of inspiration.

Ajith Kumar is easily one of the most respected actors in the industry. Known for his gentlemanly conduct, his profound respect for everyone and a disciplined approach to his craft, Ajith is an embodiment of humility: He has frequently cooked food for everyone on set, and would go to the extent of serving them and even washing up afterwards.

Ajith is extremely dedicated to his craft and performs stunts himself, including some death-defying stunts, stating calmly that the lives of stuntmen are no less important than his own and that anything required of the role should be performed by him and nobody else.

A man of immense and varied talents, he excels in whatever he attempts – acting, rifle and pistol shooting, UAV/Drone technology & aero Modelling and motor racing being only some of them. He has carved a niche for himself against very trying circumstances and numerous personal and professional challenges, but has emerged stronger, more determined and without bitterness.

He was the first actor to insist on dropping the title before his name and has, on numerous occasions, appealed to his fans to put their families first and to make a success of their own lives.

Ajith Kumar was born on 01 May 1971 to a Tamil father and Sindhi mother. After trying his hand in various vocations, including modelling, he made his first film appearance at the age of 19 in the 1990 Suresh-Nadhiya starrer, En Veedu En Kannavar, albeit in a fleeting appearance in one of the film’s songs.

Upon recommendation of his classmate, SP Charan, he was cast in the 1993 Telugu film Prema Pusthakam. The film was stalled shortly after commencing following the death of its director. The film was eventually completed and remains the only Telugu film in Ajith Kumar’s career.

While awaiting the completion of Prema Pusthakam, Ajith landed his first lead role in a Tamil film – Selva’s 1993 romance, Amaravathi where Ajith’s co-star was Sanghavi. After the completion of the shooting, Ajith was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident while training for an amateur race and had to have multiple surgeries to his spine. This left him largely confined to bed for eighteen months. During this time, the post-production work on Amaravathi had to be completed so actor Vikram dubbed Ajith’s portions in the film.

After his recovery, Ajith accepted character roles in various films, including the Arvindswami starrer, Pudhiya Mannargal, the Vijay starrer, Rajavin Parvaiyile and the moving family drama, Pavithra. During this time, he continued to have his voice dubbed while he worked on removing the Anglicised Tamil he had picked up from travelling around the country for his job in textiles.

Ajith’s comeback film as a lead actor was Vassanth’s romantic thriller, Aasai, a filmthat was not only a box-office success, but also one that won him critical acclaim, including his first Filmfare Award nomination for Best Actor. After a lukewarm response to his dual hero subject with Prashanth, Kalloori Vaasal, Ajith bounced back with the multi-award winning film, Kaadhal Kottai.

Then followed one of the most trying years in Ajith’s career. All his films for 1997 bombed at the box-office although he had carefully selected the films based on what was promised by the directors. This included Nesam, Rasi, Pagaivan, Rettai Jadai Vayasu and Amitabh Bachchan’s first Tamil production, Ullaasam.

The following year – 1998 – was a better year, with three of his four films being commercially successful – Kaadhal Mannan, Aval Varuvala and Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen. His other film, Uyirodu Uyiraga was a box-office failure. More importantly for him, the success of Kaadhal Mannan and Aval Varuvala in particular established himself as a saleable star after his dismal run in 1997.

After the release of Ramesh Khanna’s Thodarum and Sundhar C’s Unnai Thedi, Ajith played a dual role in SJ Suriya’s first directorial Vaali – a stupendous success that also saw Ajith receive his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor. In an interview earlier this week, Ajith singled out this film as the most memorable of his career. Later that year came, Amarkallam which saw Ajith and Shalini meet on set and they soon fell in love. They were married the following year.

In the year 2000, Ajith had two major hits and one miss. Mugavaree and Kanndu Konndain Kanndu Konndain (with Mammooty, Aishwarya Rai and Tabu) were huge hits while Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven flopped.

The year 2001 represented another major turning point in his career. His role in Dheena, the directorial debut of AR Murugadoss, was a huge hit and led to his fans thereafter referring to him as Thala. He also enjoyed recognition and success for his roles in Citizen and Poovellaam un Vasam. He won a state award and his third Filmfare nomination for his role in Poovellaam un Vasam. He also played a small role in the Hindi film Asoka, playing the antagonist to Shahrukh Khan,

Between 2003 and 2005, Ajith turned his attention back to racing and accepted fewer film assignments. Those he did accept were met with box-office failure. This list included Ennai Thaalatta Varuvala, Anjaneya and Jana. His only hit for this period was Saran’s Attagasam. Following the failure of his next film, Ji, Ajith took a break from acting.

By this time, Ajith had put on a lot of weight because of the side effects of the medication to treat his many injuries. The press and critics were quite unforgiving of this weight gain. Determined to shed this extra weight, Ajith fought back the pain and went through a rigorous training programme to get back in shape. This was visible when he returned to films with Paramasivan with a super trim look. He retained this look for the commercial film Thirupathi and for his next multi-award winning performance in K.S. Ravikumar’s Varalaru in which he played a triple role. He retained long hair for both films as he was getting ready to play the lead role in Bala’s Naan Kadavul, but he later dropped the project.

Then came one of his worst performing films of his career, Aalwar before enjoying moderate success with Kreedam. However, during the filming of Kreedam, Ajith suffered another spinal injury –leading to more hospitalisation and medication.

In 2007, his remake of Rajinikanth’s hit film, Billa, brought him fame and recognition, but his successive film, Aegan – directed by Raju Sundaram – was a major commercial failure.

Ajith’s first film for Sivaji Productions – Aasal – was a commercial failure, but he followed this with one of the biggest hits of his career, Mankatha – his 50^th film that saw him collaborate for the first time with Venkat Prabhu. The movie saw him play a role that was largely negative. Mankatha earned him his seventh Filmfare nomination for Best Actor.

His prequel to Billa was a commercial failure but he returned to form in Vishnu Varadhan’s Arrambam, a film that won him his eighth Filmfare nomination. This was followed by another powerfully executed role in Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Yennai Arindhaal.

Ajith had mixed reactions to his subsequent films – Vedhaalam, Vivegam and Viswasam, but was praised for his performance in Nerkonda Paarvai, the Tamil remake of the Bollywood hit, Pink.

Ajith also had mixed reactions to Valimai, Thunivu and Vidaa Muyarchi but his latest film, Good Bad Ugly has crossed the 200-crore mark globally and has become the 7^th biggest hit of all time in Tamil Nadu.

In 2012, Ajith Kumar announced that would no longer be doing interviews or participating in any media or social media event. He said that a significant portion of the Indian press were irresponsible and deliberately misquoted him or misrepresented him. It is something that he maintained until January this year.

Ajith is also a keen participant in motor racing – and has been since the 1990s. Over the years, he has participated in numerous international racing events. Earlier this year, Ajith returned to competitive racing after a 15-year gap, shedding 25kg as part of his training.

He is married to Shalini, former child actress and actress. They have two children – Anoushka (17) and Aadvik (10).

This week, on 28 April 2025, he received the Padmabhushan Award from the President of India. The award is India’s third highest civilian award, and Ajith Kumar is only the fifth Tamil actor to receive this award – after Sivaji Ganesan (1984), Rajinikanth (2000), Kamalhaasan (2014) and Vijayakanth (received posthumously in 2024).