Ajith Kumar (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 60 films. His awards include four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. In addition to his acting, 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 began his career with a small role in the 1990 Tamil film En Veedu En Kanavar. 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 Tamil Actor. He earned critical acclaim for his dual role performance in the vigilante film Citizen (2001). In 2006, he starred in Varalaru, in which he played three different roles. It became the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2006. The following year he starred in two remakes—Kireedam (2007) and Billa (2007), both of which earned him critical acclaim. Ajith played an antihero 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. He drove in the 2003 Formula Asia BMW Championships. He raced in the 2010 Formula 2 Championship along with two other Indians, Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaren.
Early life :
Ajith Kumar was born on 1 May 1971, His father P. Subramaniam is a Tamilian from 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.
