Acting career
Early career
Ajith Kumar was born to a middle-class family in Secunderabad, a city north of Hyderabad to a Tamil Iyer from Kerala[10][dead link] and a Sindhi mother, and was brought up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.[11][11] He dropped out of Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School in 1986 before completing his higher secondary.[12] He took up work as a two wheeler auto mechanic, and got himself a driver's licence to coincide with his interests, that of car / bike racing. At 18, Ajith had to take up a job to support his career in racing. Joining as an apprentice, he rose to be a merchandiser with a garment export company, doing small-time press ads and TV commercials occasionally
Success and Superstardom (2006 present)
During 2006, Ajith returned from his hiatus by appearing in P. Vasu's Paramasivan for which he had lost twenty kilograms to portray the lead role.The film enjoyed a moderate success, scoring over Vijay's Aadhi, which also released in the same week, at the box-office.Critics from The Hindu stated Ajith looked "trim and taut" in the film with "only his eyes seeming to have lost some of its sparkle", following the major weight loss.
Furthermore, for Paramasivan and his two other projects in 2006, Ajith sported long hair, which was being grown for Bala's project, Naan Kadavul, which Ajith eventually opted out of Similarly his next, AVM Productions's, Thirupathi directed by Perarasu performed above average business at the box-office, despite garnering poor reviews, with Rediff critics citing that the film is "anything but sensible" but that Ajith "salvages the situation with a spirited performance".[44] Ajith summed up a successful comeback by the release of his long-delayed film, Varalaru which went on to become his biggest success til date.
The K. S. Ravikumar film co-starring Asin, portrayed Ajith in three roles, including that of a classical dancer, with his portrayals being critically praised.Moreover, the film fetched Ajith his third Filmfare Best Actor Award, on its way to becoming a blockbuster.In 2007, media reports hinted that the actor would do a project with Shankar.Ajith's first release in 2007, Aalwar became a debacle at the box-office, with his previous film still continuing to run in theatres even after Aalwar had stopped its brief theatrical run.Kireedam, a remake of the 1989 National Award winning Malayalam film of the same name was released to positive reviews, with the film also becoming a moderate success.During the shoot of the film, Ajith developed a further spinal injury, a recurrence of his problem earlier in his career.
Racing career
Ajith Kumar competing in the final round of the MRF racing series (2010) in ChennaiAjith is a keen race car driver and has driven in circuits around India in places such as Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. Ajith is one among very few Indians to race in International arena and only Indian actor to compete in Formula championships. He 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.
