1990s Ajith started his film career at the age of 21 in a Telugu movie Prema Pustagam in 1992, he won the Best New Face Award for his performance.. His next film was in Tamil entitled Amaravathi for which he was paid a token salary of Rs.390.His second Tamil film Pavithrawas delayed for 17 months because of a racing injury that left him bed-ridden. Both films received appreciation from the Tamil audience.It was his third Tamil film that released 10 months later in 1995, Aasai, directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Rathnam which helped to establish his career as a teen icon in Kollywood. According to Tamilcinema.com, the film grossed almost Rs.50 million at the box office playing for 210 days successfully.
Ajith's first big budget venture Kalloori Vaasal was with Prashanth and Pooja Bhatt, but only after Agathiyan's Vaanmathi and particularly the National Award winning Kadhal Kottai, which established him as an accomplished actor in Kollywood. Kadhal Kottai grossed almost Rs.100 million at the box office playing for 240 days. Ajith later played in Amitabh Bachchan's debut Tamil production in Ullasam that cast Vikram in guest role. This venture paid him a salary of over Rs.5 million for the first time ever.
A string of successful movies followed, most notably Kadhal Mannan and Aval Varuvala and the multiple award winning Vaali which cast him alongside Simran. Vaali saw a new peak in Ajith's career. The film grossed almost Rs.200 million at the box office playing for 270 days. He played a dual role in the film as a deaf-and-dumb twin who lusts after his naive brother's wife.
After Amarkalam with his fiancee Shalini, Ajith set up his own distribution company AK International with office located within the premises of NIC Arts which was run by his friend-producer-distributor S.S.Chakravarthi. This office was shifted in 2006.
2000sUnlike the 1990s when Ajith films had urban romantic plots, the 21st century saw Ajith films with wide-ranging plots based on social issues and civic responsibilities like MGR since the 1950s.
In 2000, Ajith was cast alongside Mammooty, Abbas, Tabu and Aishwarya Rai in Kandukondain Kandukondain. The film's audio rights were sold for a record Rs.22 million, which still stands.[13] Mugavari followed as Ajith acted in alongside Jyothika.
In 2001, Ajith played the role of Shahrukh Khan's brother in the historical film Asoka. He began the year with Dheena by A.R.Murugadas. This showed Ajith as a rowdy alongside Suresh Gopi and Laila. The film is credited with causing the present cult image of Thala to Ajith. Several movies followed: among them the cult film Citizen opposite Vasundhara Das; romantic entertainers like Poovellam Un Vasam and Raja opposite Jyothika and the action tale Red.
He won the South India Filmfare Best Actor Award for Villain, directed by K. S. Ravikumar.Villain, in which he once again donned a dual role, grossed almost Rs.300 million at the box office marking a new office box peak in Ajith's career. By then the Kollywood trade had unanimously begun calling him the King of Opening.
In 2003 and 2004, Ajith acted in Anjaneya, Jana and Attagasam opposite Meera Jasmine, Sneha and Pooja respectively. Anjaneya created a new record for Telugu rights reported at almost Rs.9 million offered by Dr.Rajasekar while Ajith's salary reached a peak of almost Rs.50 million for the film but he waived it when the film did not match expectations. Jana too did not perform as expected and Ajith suffered some high profile fracas with its producer. So, he declared an end to motor racing and Attagasam, in which he donned a dual role again, was successful.
In 2005, Ajith acted in the film Ji opposite Trisha. Project delays by director Bala and producer Chakravarthi forced him to sit idle for the rest of the year. He thus released only 4 films in the three years from 2003 through 2005.
By contrast, in 2006, Ajith acted in three successful projects, Paramasivan directed P.Vasu, Thirupathi directed by Perarasu and particularly Varalaru directed by K. S. Ravikumar. This is his comeback movie since Villain. Varalaru emerged as the biggest grosser of the year earning almost Rs.500 million, reports India Today, and is his highest grossing film.
Ajith's latest film is with the newcomer director Chella entitled Aalwar. Both Varalaru and Aalwar were opposite Asin. Aalwar is now playing towards 100th day despite media criticism of content and presentation. It is the widest release in Ajith's career to date. After Aalwar, Ajith reported to do a remake of a 1989 National Award winning Mohanlal classic, entitled Kireedam opposite Trisha. This film is produced by Anil Ambani's conglomerate Adlabs Films and will mark their entry into Kollywood. He sustained a recurring spinal injury on the sets of the film.
However, is Billa 007 is regarded as Ajith's most prestigious venture of 2007, and is scheduled for Deepavali release. The film is a remake of Rajinikanth's 1980 Tamil blockbuster Billa which itself was a remake of Amitabh Bachan's 1978 Hindi blockbuster Don which in turn was remade by Shah Rukh Khan in 2006 as Don again.
Ajith's first big budget venture Kalloori Vaasal was with Prashanth and Pooja Bhatt, but only after Agathiyan's Vaanmathi and particularly the National Award winning Kadhal Kottai, which established him as an accomplished actor in Kollywood. Kadhal Kottai grossed almost Rs.100 million at the box office playing for 240 days. Ajith later played in Amitabh Bachchan's debut Tamil production in Ullasam that cast Vikram in guest role. This venture paid him a salary of over Rs.5 million for the first time ever.
A string of successful movies followed, most notably Kadhal Mannan and Aval Varuvala and the multiple award winning Vaali which cast him alongside Simran. Vaali saw a new peak in Ajith's career. The film grossed almost Rs.200 million at the box office playing for 270 days. He played a dual role in the film as a deaf-and-dumb twin who lusts after his naive brother's wife.
After Amarkalam with his fiancee Shalini, Ajith set up his own distribution company AK International with office located within the premises of NIC Arts which was run by his friend-producer-distributor S.S.Chakravarthi. This office was shifted in 2006.
2000sUnlike the 1990s when Ajith films had urban romantic plots, the 21st century saw Ajith films with wide-ranging plots based on social issues and civic responsibilities like MGR since the 1950s.
In 2000, Ajith was cast alongside Mammooty, Abbas, Tabu and Aishwarya Rai in Kandukondain Kandukondain. The film's audio rights were sold for a record Rs.22 million, which still stands.[13] Mugavari followed as Ajith acted in alongside Jyothika.
In 2001, Ajith played the role of Shahrukh Khan's brother in the historical film Asoka. He began the year with Dheena by A.R.Murugadas. This showed Ajith as a rowdy alongside Suresh Gopi and Laila. The film is credited with causing the present cult image of Thala to Ajith. Several movies followed: among them the cult film Citizen opposite Vasundhara Das; romantic entertainers like Poovellam Un Vasam and Raja opposite Jyothika and the action tale Red.
He won the South India Filmfare Best Actor Award for Villain, directed by K. S. Ravikumar.Villain, in which he once again donned a dual role, grossed almost Rs.300 million at the box office marking a new office box peak in Ajith's career. By then the Kollywood trade had unanimously begun calling him the King of Opening.
In 2003 and 2004, Ajith acted in Anjaneya, Jana and Attagasam opposite Meera Jasmine, Sneha and Pooja respectively. Anjaneya created a new record for Telugu rights reported at almost Rs.9 million offered by Dr.Rajasekar while Ajith's salary reached a peak of almost Rs.50 million for the film but he waived it when the film did not match expectations. Jana too did not perform as expected and Ajith suffered some high profile fracas with its producer. So, he declared an end to motor racing and Attagasam, in which he donned a dual role again, was successful.
In 2005, Ajith acted in the film Ji opposite Trisha. Project delays by director Bala and producer Chakravarthi forced him to sit idle for the rest of the year. He thus released only 4 films in the three years from 2003 through 2005.
By contrast, in 2006, Ajith acted in three successful projects, Paramasivan directed P.Vasu, Thirupathi directed by Perarasu and particularly Varalaru directed by K. S. Ravikumar. This is his comeback movie since Villain. Varalaru emerged as the biggest grosser of the year earning almost Rs.500 million, reports India Today, and is his highest grossing film.
Ajith's latest film is with the newcomer director Chella entitled Aalwar. Both Varalaru and Aalwar were opposite Asin. Aalwar is now playing towards 100th day despite media criticism of content and presentation. It is the widest release in Ajith's career to date. After Aalwar, Ajith reported to do a remake of a 1989 National Award winning Mohanlal classic, entitled Kireedam opposite Trisha. This film is produced by Anil Ambani's conglomerate Adlabs Films and will mark their entry into Kollywood. He sustained a recurring spinal injury on the sets of the film.
However, is Billa 007 is regarded as Ajith's most prestigious venture of 2007, and is scheduled for Deepavali release. The film is a remake of Rajinikanth's 1980 Tamil blockbuster Billa which itself was a remake of Amitabh Bachan's 1978 Hindi blockbuster Don which in turn was remade by Shah Rukh Khan in 2006 as Don again.
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