Ajith Kumar filmography

Ajith Kumar on the sets of the film English Vinglish (2012).

Ajith Kumar is an Indian actor working mainly in Tamil cinema. He was first seen played a minor role in the 1990 Tamil film En Veedu En Kanavar.^[1] However, his professional career began in 1993 through the Telugu film Prema Pusthakam.^[2] Following that, in the same year he made his major Tamil cinema debut through Amaravathi in which he played the lead role. The film emerged as an average grosser, but helped him getting more assignments in modelling.^[2] He followed that with films like Paasamalargal (1993) and Pavithra (1994). In 1995, he landed his first breakthrough role in the romantic thriller Aasai. The success of the film helped him establish himself as an up-and-coming actor in Tamil cinema.^[3] He was next seen in the epistolary Kadhal Kottai (1996). The film was a blockbuster and won three National Film Awards including the award for the Best Tamil Film in 1996. His subsequent films Ullasam (1997) and Kaadhal Mannan (1998) were moderately successful.^[2]

Ajith's dual portrayal as twin brothers –where one is deaf and mute–in the S. J. Suryah-directed Vaali (1999) fetched him his first Filmfare Award. Furthermore, his performance was well received by the critics. The film's success prompted Rajiv Menon to cast Ajith in his Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000). Featuring an ensemble cast, the film saw him paired opposite Tabu. The following year saw him collaborating with debutante A. R. Murugadoss for Dheena. The film earned him a reputation as an "action hero". He was next seen in the highly anticipated Citizen (2001) where he portrayed 10 different characters. The film ended up as a commercial success but received poor response from the critics. The family drama Poovellam Un Vasam fetched him a Special Prize at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. His last release of the year was Santosh Sivan's Asoka where he was seen playing a negative role in a brief appearance co-starring Shah Rukh Khan.^[4][5] His performance as twin-brothers in the 2002 film Villain earned him a second Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

During the period 2003 to 2005, Ajith had acted in a few films as he concentrated more on his racing career. He had his only success with Attahasam (2004) around this time. In 2006, he returned after a sabbatical through Varalaru. He played three different roles, one of which includes a classical dancer. His performance was critically praised and he went on to receive his third Filmfare Award. The film was his biggest blockbuster then. The following year, he was seen in two remakes—Kireedam and Billa. The former was a remake of the namesake 1989 Malayalam film while the latter was remade from the 1980 Rajinikanth starrer Billa. His next two releases, Aegan (2008) and Aasal (2010), took a big opening but turned out to be box-office failures.

After a brief hiatus, Ajith signed up Venkat Prabhu's Mankatha (2011), which happened to be his 50th film. He played a full-length negative character as a suspended police officer who lusts for money. His performance received critical praise as it broke the stereotype hero image in Tamil cinema.^[6] Mankatha had the biggest opening of the year in Tamil cinema, and eventually turned out to be Ajith's biggest commercial success.^[7] His next release Billa II (2012), Tamil cinema's first prequel,^{[lower-alpha 1]} opened to negative reviews.^[9][10][11] In 2013, he was seen in the multi-starrer Arrambam. The film received positive response from the critics as well as the audience. His 2014 release Veeram also received positive response,^[12] and in 2015, he appeared in Yennai Arindhaal, which received mixed to positive reviews.^[13][14]

Films

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

No.	Film	Year	Role(s)	Director(s)	Notes	Ref.
1	En Veedu En Kanavar	1990	School student	Senbaga Raman	Uncredited role	[15]
2	Amaravathi	1993	Arjun	Selva		[16]
3	Prema Pusthakam	1993	Siddharth	Gollapudi Maruthi Rao	Telugu film	[17]
4	Paasamalargal	1994	Kumar	Suresh Menon		[18]
5	Pavithra	1994	Ashok	K. Subash		[19]
6	Rajavin Parvaiyile	1995	Chandru	Janaki Soundar		[20]
7	Aasai	1995	Jeevanantham	Vasanth		[21]
8	Vaanmathi	1996	Krishna	Agathiyan		[22]
9	Kalloori Vaasal	1996	Vasanth	Pavithran		[23]
10	Minor Mappillai	1996	Ramu	V. C. Guhunathan		[24]
11	Kadhal Kottai	1996	Surya	Agathiyan		[25]
12	Nesam	1997	Nathan	K. Subash		[26]
13	Raasi	1997	Kumar	Murali Abbas		[27]
14	Ullaasam	1997	Guru	J. D.- Jerry		[28]
15	Pagaivan	1997	Prabhu	Ramesh Krishnan		[29]
16	Rettai Jadai Vayasu	1997	Vijay	C. Sivakumar		[30]
17	Kadhal Mannan	1998	Shiva	Saran		[31]
18	Aval Varuvala	1998	Jeeva	Raj Kapoor		[32]
19	Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen	1998	Sanjay	Vikraman	Guest appearance	[33][34]
20	Uyirodu Uyiraga	1998	Ajay	Sushma Ahuja		[35]
21	Thodarum	1999	Jeyaram	Ramesh Khanna		[36]
22	Unnai Thedi	1999	Raghu	Sundar C		[37]
23	Vaali	1999	Shiva / Deva	S. J. Surya		[38][39]
24	Anantha Poongatre	1999	Jeeva	Raj Kapoor		[40]
25	Amarkalam	1999	Vasu	Saran		[41]
26	Nee Varuvai Ena	1999	Subramani	Rajakumaran	Guest appearance	[42][43]
27	Mugavaree	2000	Sridhar	V. Z. Durai		[44]
28	Kandukondain Kandukondain	2000	Manohar	Rajiv Menon		[45]
29	Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven	2000	Surya	Kavi Kalidas		[46]
30	Dheena	2001	Dheenadhayalan	AR Murugadoss		[47]
31	Citizen	2001	Citizen / Subramani[lower-alpha 2]	Saravana Subbiah		[48]
32	Poovellam Un Vasam	2001	Chinna	Ezhil		[49][50]
33	Asoka	2001	Susima	Santosh Sivan	Hindi film	[51]
34	Red	2002	Red	Ram Sathya		[52]
35	Raja	2002	Raja	Ezhil		[53]
36	Villain	2002	Shiva / Vishnu[lower-alpha 2]	K. S. Ravikumar		[54][55]
37	Ennai Thalatta Varuvala	2003	Sathish	K. S. Ravindran		[56]
38	Anjaneya	2003	Paramaguru	N. Maharajan		[57]
39	Jana	2004	Janardhanan	Shaji Kailas		[58]
40	Attagasam	2004	Guru/Jeeva	Saran		[59]
41	Ji	2005	Vasu	N. Linguswamy		[60]
42	Paramasivan	2006	Subramaniyam Siva (Paramasivan)	P. Vasu		[61]
43	Thirupathi	2006	Thirupathi	Perarasu		[62]
44	Varalaru	2006	Shivshankar/Vishnu/Jeeva[lower-alpha 3]	K. S. Ravikumar		[64][65]
45	Aalwar	2007	Shiva	Chella		[66]
46	Kireedam	2007	Sakthivel Rajarajan	A. L. Vijay		[67]
47	Billa	2007	David Billa / Saravanavelu[lower-alpha 2]	Vishnuvardhan		[68][69]
48	Aegan	2008	Shiva	Raju Sundaram		[70]
49	Asal	2010	Shiva / Jeevanandham[lower-alpha 2]	Saran	Also screenwriter	[71][72]
50	Mankatha	2011	Vinayak Mahadevan	Venkat Prabhu		[73][74]
51	Billa II	2012	David Billa	Chakri Toleti		[75]
52	English Vinglish	2012	Plane passenger	Gauri Shinde	Cameo appearance; Tamil version only	[76]
53	Arrambam	2013	Ashok Kumar (AK)	Vishnuvardhan		[77][78]
54	Veeram	2014	Vinayagam	Siva		[79][80]
55	Yennai Arindhaal	2015	Sathyadev	Gautham Menon		[81]
56	Vedalam	2015	Vedalam (Ganesh)	Siva		[82]
57	AK 57	2017		Siva	Filming	[83]

Notes

1. The film was a prequel to his 2007 film of the same name.^[8]
2. Ajith performed dual roles in this film.
3. Ajith performed triple roles in the film.^[63]

References

1. "What's Ajith's actual film debut?". The Times of India. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
2. Rajitha (15 September 1999). "Pyar to hona hi tha". Rediff.com. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
3. Warrier, Shobha (6 July 1999). "Bad back, great future". Rediff.com. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
4. Rangarajan, Malathi (24 August 2007). "It's all about choices". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
5. Srinivasan, Lata (1 May 2012). "I'm not in competition with anybody: Ajith". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
6. Rangarajan, Malathi (3 September 2011). "A gutsy game!". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
7. MovieBuzz (2 September 2011). "Mankatha takes best opening of 2011". Sify. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
8. Raghavan, Nikhil (29 April 2012). "The don of summer". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
9. Parameswaran, Prathibha. "Tamil Review: 'Billa 2' lacks pace, but watch it for Ajith if you must". IBNLive. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
10. RAGHAVAN, NIKHIL (April 29, 2012). "The don of summer". The Hindu.
11. Narayanan, Sharadha (June 18, 2012). "'Billa 2': The art of telling a story backwards". The New Indian Express.
12. "Ajith Kumar". Forbes. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
13. "‘I am dying to work with Ajith again’". Bangaloremirror.
14. Nicy V.P (16 February 2015). "Yennai Arindhaal got positive reviews from critics and audience alike". The International Business Times.
15. "Tamil celebrities who worked as child artists". The Times of India.
16. "Ajith's 50th film launched". Rediff. 6 August 2010.
17. "Amaravathi". www.ajithkumar.fr.fm.
18. "Happy Birthday Thala".
19. "Many flaws in this sentimental attempt". New Sunday Times. December 19, 1994.
20. "Rajavin Parvaiyela". www.ajithkumar.fr.fm.
21. "Aasai". www.ajithkumar.fr.fm.
22. "Rediff On The Net, Movies:Ajith.. the south hero signed for ABCL's film".
23. S. R. Ashok Kumar. "Grill Mill: Interview with actor-choreographer Kalyan". The Hindu.
24. "9-49 of Vijay and Ajith". Behindwoods.com.
25. "Kathal Kotai". www.ajithkumar.fr.fm.
26. "A-Z (IV)". INDOlink.
27. "Raasi Review". www.ajithkumar.fr.fm.
28. "Ullasam".
29. "Pagaivan Review". www.ajithkumar.fr.fm.
30. "Guess List".
31. "Kaadhal Mannan: A Movie Review".
32. "Aval Varuvala: Movie Review".
33. "Unnidathil Ennai Koduthain: Movie Review".
34. "Who plays the baddie in AjithGautham film".
35. "Uyirodu Uyiraaga: Movie Review".
36. "Thodarum: Movie Review".
37. "Unnaithaedi: Movie Review".
38. "Vaali: Movie Review".
39. "Double roles that required doubled efforts part 1".
40. "Aanandha Poongaatrae: Movie Review".
41. "Amarkalam: Movie Review".
42. "Nee Varuvaai Ena: Movie Review".
43. "First Cameos Of Our Superstars".
44. "The Hindu : Film Review: Mugavaree".
45. "The Hindu : A rather unusual feast from down South".
46. "The Hindu : Film Review: Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuvaen".
47. "The Hindu : Film Review: Dheena".
48. "The Hindu : Film Review: Citizen".
49. "The Hindu : Film Review: Poovellam Un Vaasam".
50. http://downloads.movies.indiatimes.com/south2001/sthnom.html#bf
51. "The Hindu : The Emperor's new clothes".
52. "The Hindu : "Red"".
53. "The Hindu : Raja".
54. "The Hindu : Villain".
55. "Ajit, Simran bag Filmfare awards". The Times of India.
56. "The Hindu : "Ennai Thalaata Varuvaala"".
57. "The Hindu : "Anjaneya"".
58. "The Hindu : Jana".
59. "The Hindu : Entertainment / Film Review : Attagaasam".
60. "The Hindu : Entertainment Chennai / Film Review : "Ji"".
61. "Going in for a much-changed look". The Hindu.
62. "As stale as it gets - Tirupathi". The Hindu.
63. "Ajith all the way in Varalaaru".
64. "In the race, surely - Varalaaru". The Hindu.
65. "Ajith Bhavana win Filmfare awards".
66. "Ire and fire all over again -- Aazhwar". The Hindu.
67. "Whose crown is it, anyway? -- Kireedam". The Hindu.
68. "Billa beats boredom". The Hindu.
69. "Rajini- Nayan nominate for Filmfare". www.filmibeat.com.
70. "Stylish sprint again - Aegan". The Hindu.
71. SUBHA J. RAO. "Not the real thing". The Hindu.
72. "Review: Asal is for Ajith fans". Rediff. 5 February 2010.
73. MALATHI RANGARAJAN. "A gutsy game!". The Hindu.
74. "59th Filmfare Awards South 2012 - Nominees Full List, Tickets". Tamil Cinema News - Movie Reviews - Gossips.
75. Karthik Subramanian. "Does 'Billa II' beckon?". The Hindu.
76. http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/english-vinglish-the-queens-speech/article3971783.ece
77. Baradwaj Rangan. "Arrambam: Mission to "mass"". The Hindu.
78. "61st Idea Filmfare Awards - Complete Nominations List". The Times of India.
79. BARADWAJ RANGAN. "Veeram: Generous helping of masala pongal". The Hindu.
80. "Nominations for the 62nd Britannia Filmfare Awards (South)". filmfare.com.
81. Karthik Subramanian. "'Yennai Arindhaal': Ending cop trilogy on a high". The Hindu.
82. Sudhir Srinivasan. "Vedhalam: Pulsating fight scenes, but predictable otherwise". The Hindu.
83. "Kajal Aggarwal to join Ajith in Bulgaria!"

• 84. Thala's Heroines from Amaravati to Ak57