Every man has a past, but he has history – this was the dialogue from Ajith's movie Billa 2 that aptly sums up his journey in the film industry. Ajith's entry to films was unexpected as he had no passion to be an actor. Yet, when life offered him this surprise, he decided to take up the challenge for survival and in the process, fell in love with his job.
His journey, without any Godfather, was not a bed of roses, but his sheer hard work never went wasted as he has become one of the biggest stars of South India. And on August 3, he completed 25 glorious years in the film industry.
Ajith, who is known as Thala for his legion of fans, never dreamt of being an actor at the first place. He was passionate in modelling and racing, but he never thought of pursuing a career in film industry. After dropping out of school, he worked in the garment industry and turned a businessman by starting a textile-processing agency. Unfortunately, the business was not successful and he lost a huge amount of money.
When life was throwing challenges one after the other, there came an offer to work in a film. Well, it was not in Tamil but from the Telugu film industry. He had a forgettable debut as his first flick met with a lot of struggles even before release. The director of the film died while shooting a scene.
In the first few years, Ajith wanted to work in movies as it helped him to clear his loans. At this juncture, he was also trying to follow his passion to make a career in auto racing. A week before the competition, he suffered a serious injury, thereby shattering his dreams. He was bedridden for 18 months.
After those depressing months, he started working in the film Pavitra. Again, it was only for survival. In 1995, he got a break in Kollywood in the form of Aasai. But again, the worst was waiting to hit his confidence as he delivered five consecutive flops in a year. Critics went ahead and declared that his career was over. His relationship too had failed then.
The only way to overcome the pains was by working nonstop. In the process, Ajith started building his career and liking his acting job. Vaali in 1999 changed his career and he never looked back again although success and failures have been part of his journey.
Kandukondain Kandukondain, Dheena, Citizen, Varalaru, Billa and Mankatha are some of his hit movies. And there is a big list of flops like Billa 2, Ennai Thalatta Varuvala, etc. Yet he remains an inspiring personality for his fans as he has treated success and failures in the same wave length.
Notably, the budding actors look up to him for inspiration and dream to imbibe his principles to be successful.
Fans Celebration
Cut to the present, the fans of Ajith, who is awaiting the release of his next film Vivegam, on Twitter have started a trend using the hash tag - #25YearsofThala - to celebrate his special day. The celebrities too have joined them to wish the actor on the occasion of reaching 25 years in film industry. Below, find their tweets:
Prasanna: Without any film background to have raised as an ultimate star and earned millions of fans dear Thala u r an inspiration. #25YearsofThala
Editor Ruben: It's #25YearsofThala #AK25 I wish Ajith sir, a longer successful journey! Thanks for the love from him & his fans! Glory to God❤️
J Satish Kumar: 25 years of pure hardwork and dedication. #25YearsofThala #NeverGiveUp
Dhanush: #AK25 ... thank you ajith sir .. for inspiring us as an actor and as a human being. Wishing u all the peace and success. #salute #selfmade
Siva+director: Sai sai my respect and regards for thala ajith Sir on 25 years in cinema,honest sincere humble great person,true inspiration thank u sir
