Is Ajith currently the No.1 star of Tamil movie industry (a.k.a Kollywood)?
A courtesy visit by Tamil cine heart-throb Ajith to enquire on the health of ailing former CM of TN Mr Karunanidhi has set the social media on fire. His visit was widely reported in TV news media as well and he was top trending on Twitter for several hours.
With the steep rise of social media from mid-2000s, Ajith’s popularity has only skyrocketed to dazzling heights
What makes ‘Thala’ Ajith (he is affectionately referred as “Thala” by his fans) a darling among millions of his fans across the Tamil speaking populace in India? Ajith, a very serious motorsport & aeromodelling aficionado, ventured into cinema only to clear his debts incurred in a garments export venture gone awry. From humble beginnings, he has gone on to become one of the most sought-after film icons not only among the cinema-loving youths in Tamil Nadu but also among the vast Tamil diaspora across the world.
Soft-spoken, handsome, sophisticated, charismatic, suave, honest, hardworking, outspoken, stylish, reclusive are some of the adjectives usually tagged to him. A few years back he stunned the Tamil cine world by dismantling his fan clubs – with an intention to stop the culture of cultivating fan clubs for political means. It was meant to dis-incentivise his faithful fans on hero-worship and get them on to their lives. In an era of monikers, he dropped the prefix “Ultimate Star” from his name, citing to respect viewers maturity. He has consciously stayed away from parties, award functions, public events and leads a closely guarded personal life. The more he remains aloof from his vast ocean of fans, more they crave to know about him.
It was an era before the advent of social media when I watched his movies and instantly took a liking to his acting and his magnetic charisma. Where I grew up in Mumbai, catching up a Tamil movie was difficult a decade ago. Tamil movies were only screened in a few theatres with a very limited number of shows. I still recollect watching his movie, Red, way back in 2002 amidst only a handful of people in the movie hall in a suburb in Mumbai. Fast forward to 2011, It was the same theatre – now jam-packed with fans going crazy and the movie; the blockbuster Mankatha. The mass-start Ajith had arrived!
The current avatar of Ajith took the leap with cult classic Billa – which I had the pleasure to write a blog movie review back then in 2007. Years later Mankatha (which I had reviewed too) further increased his popularity to new heights.
It is quite interesting how in a rare televised interview to NDTV-Hindu eight years ago, the conversation is mostly about his prime passion – motor-racing and how he wishes to popularise it in India
With the steep rise of social media from the mid-2000s, Ajith’s popularity has only skyrocketed to dazzling heights. His monstrous fan following on the digital space as well as hundreds and thousands who throng cinema halls to watch his movies have only grown with each passing day. His fan following cuts across caste, creed, gender, geography and religion making him an icon who has been a glue bringing all of them together. These days fans celebrate his milestones, birthday, new movie releases etc on social media with fanfare and furiously trend hashtags which go on to trend globally. Also, one often witnesses ugly hashtag-wars on Twitter among his fans and his professional arch-rival Vijay’s fans. Ajith and Vijay, though professional rivals have always had a great amount of respect for each other and have often condemned their respective fans who post lewd comments and make the conversation vitriolic.
So why are fans so crazy about Ajith? Many vouch that he is a true inspiration with his success story scripted out of sheer hardwork and determination to overcome the biggest of hurdles one can ever face. Fans often love their heroes because they wish to emulate them. They wish to emulate his simple demeanour, gentlemanly behaviour and respect he accords to everyone around him. An Ajith film is indeed like a celebration across the various cinema halls in TN and runs to packed audiences. He is also known famously as the “King of Opening” – to attribute his ability to pull people to the theatres which run to packed audiences setting the cash registers ringing in the box office. He and his directors often are under tremendous pressure from his huge fan following to ensure the film doesn’t turn out to be a disappointment. This lays a huge amount of social responsibility on his and his director/producer’s shoulders and one must say Ajith has conducted himself as an ideal inspiration for his fans on and off the screen.
It is quite interesting how in a rare televised interview to NDTV-Hindu eight years ago, the conversation is mostly about his prime passion – motor-racing and how he wishes to popularise it in India. It was always going to be very tough for him to carry on with motorsports and films at the same time. It appears he has now settled down to concentrate more on movies; which has brought him all the fame and stardom. Several surgeries and setbacks have failed to dampen his fighting spirit. It is indeed amazing how much success he has scaled in the world of cinema – which the other lesser stars can only dream to emulate. It is no secret he is the darling of several other actors who look to him for inspiration. It is also a fact that; many actors and directors use his name and reference to him or his movies directly or indirectly in their movies to grab the attention of his huge fan army.
So, Is Ajith currently the No.1 star of Tamil movie industry (a.k.a Kollywood)? Superstar Rajinikanth has long been considered the numero uno of Kollywood. Ajith had famously said in an interview way back in 1999 to rediff.com and I quote “Tomorrow Rajinikanth may move onto a different field and that seat is going to be vacant. I want the seat and I am bloody arrogant enough to say, ‘I want his place’.” With Rajini stepping into politics, has Ajith’s desire back in 1999 to be the No.1 come true?
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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Ashwath
I felt, compared to your other articles, this one lacks gravity.
Ajith is a good actor/star and enjoys huge fan following and might be no.1 as well. But why write about that in pgurus? I come to pgurus for reading serious stuff – No movies, No cricket.
There are several other sites which cover these two desi passions.
Just thought of sharing my feedback. This is not an attempt downplay Ajith’s achievements.
Thanks
Definitely ajith is not come for rajini’s place damn sure. Today u note this line.
Which one is publicly available share me the article. I share the article which one is no.1 in kollywood currently.
Good God! One cannot be more out of touch with the current affairs in Kollywood! My 92 year old grandfather would know better! Not that being out of touch with Kollywood is a bad thing in itself, but if one cannot even write an article with weird ulterior motives without getting ‘alternate facts’ ridiculously WRONG, then what good is one for any of us!
Thanks Rajesh for leaving a comment. What did you find factually wrong in the article? All of it is publicly available and I have shared the links of the interviews which I have used.