Ajith - Film career
Ajith Kumar started his film career with a Telugu movie Prema Pustagam in 1992. The movie was an instant hit and the Telugu film industry immediately took notice of him awarding him the "Best New Face" award of that year. . His next film was in Tamil - a musical hit called Amaravathi for which he was paid a salary of just Rs300! However his second film released after 17 months - another musical hit Pavithra. The delay was caused due to a bike accident that made him bed-ridden!
Both these films familiarised his lover-boy looks to the people of Tamil Nadu (South Indian state) and established him as a promising teen icon. One remarkable feature of his film career is that he has picked up atleast one award for his films every year from 1992 through 2002 from government, institutions and media! Almost all his 30+ films have been dubbed or remade into Telugu. In a industry without entry barriers for celebrity sons, Ajith was the only self-made hero in the Nineties who survived and prospered without any film background whatsoever. Remember, as late as 1989, he was still working as a two-wheeler mechanic in Hyderabad!
His third film released 10 months later. It was the biggest blockbuster hit of 1995 - Aasai, which ran for 210 days, directed by Vasanth and came as a turning point for Ajith. It brought him immense name/face recognition in each and every Tamil household! It was such a runaway success that he began considering cinema as a viable full-time career for the first time ever! Thereafter film offers poured in regularly!
His fourth release was Vaanmathi which was also a silver jubilee quickly followed by Kalluri Vasal which was a musical hit that was later dubbed into Telugu as College Gate! But it was Director Agathiyan's Kadhal Kottai which put him in the top slot . The film was a mega blockbuster hit and also received a National award (award given by the Government of India) for the director. It ran for 240 days!
The musical hit Nesam cast him along with Maheshwari who reappeared in Amitabh Bachan's Ullasam for which his salary was raised to Rs15 lakhs! This was followed by a string of musical hits like Raasi, Rettai Jadai Vayasu, Kadhal Mannan, Uyirodu Uyiraga and the blockbuster Aval Varuvala which cast him along with Simran.
Throughout 1997 and 1998, his personal life came under unprecedented media scrutiny with juicy tabloid gossip about his rocky relationship with actress Heera which ended in Thodarum when she reportedly walked out on him. Ajith went into depression throughout the shoot of the musical hit Unnai Thedi. It was in these troubled times that another mega blockbuster hit in his career Vaali arrived! This film helped Ajith solidify his reputation (despite all the media mudslinging) as the superstar of next generation! The film was a huge blockbuster hit - a thriller running packed houses for 270 days. From there on, there was no stopping him. He ruled with continuous hits like Anandha Poongaatre, blockbuster Amarkalam, Mughavari (salary Rs2 crores), blockbuster Dheena, Citizen and Poovellam Un Vaasam .
For the sake of survival and friendship in a industry with minimal entry barriers, Ajith had to resort to doing guest roles in a relatively large number of films like Paasamalargal, Rajavin Parvaiyiley, Minor Maappillai, Pagaivan, Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen, Nee Varuvai Ena, Kandukondain Kandukondain (its audio rights sale record price of Rs2.2 crores still remains unbeaten), Asoka and Ennai Thalatta Varuvala.
There were some hiccups in the form of films such as Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven and Red which had outrageous plots but he came back strong with musical hits Raja and Villain directed by K.S.Ravikumar, which was a tremendous blockbuster hit running 300 days! For Anjaneya, his salary peaked at Rs4 crores and its Telugu remake rights were sold for Rs85+ lacs average per area at the time of shoot itself!
But his grip on the world of Kollywood(Tamil Film world) weakened by choosing films such as Jana which were devoid of nativity. Still, his films took a thunderous opening worldwide. In 2004 the film Attahasam came as a welcome relief from his previous slew of average films. Ji opening triggered riots and mayhem in several districts. Such is his fan rage! Its Telugu version released in October 2005. Now, he has declared that there will be no more racing and he is going to concentrate only on acting. 2006 looks to be a great year as he has many big films waiting to be released. As of January 2006, he has over 60,000 registered fanclubs worldwide headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
He is one of the few stars in India who guarantee minimum box office collections worth $4 million in the first week of release itself for his films! That's why film producers, distributors and exhibitors fondly call him King of Opening! His millions of fans worldwide are noted for their overt show of affection on the day of release of his films like performing camphor pooja, paal abishekam for his cutouts, offering special prayers, tonsuring heads and putting up fancy posters with catchy taglines!
