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Ajith Kumar has always been a trendsetter. The choices he’s made as an actor have been unique, often not fetching success in his own words — but he stuck to his instincts boldly.
It distinctly reflected in the scripts he picked, be it Kadhal Kottai or Vaali, Citizen or Mugavaree. These are decisions which any hero at that point would have hesitated to make. But Ajith’s willingness to take risks is what makes him special.
In 2007, he did Billa which was unlike anything Tamil cinema had seen until then. The star in him took precedence over the actor.
But things changed quickly in the new decade after the actor could not strike gold with Asal in 2010.
Ajith decided to experiment, banking on his gut feeling and went on to change the way Tamil cinema saw a mass hero.
Here’s how the birthday boy who turns 49 today redefined Tamil cinema in the 2010s:
Making evil characters cool again
Around 2010, it was a strict no-no among mass heroes. They had to keep their ‘image’ clean.
Many would say Rajini and Kamal did such roles but their grey journey started way back and they were constantly in touch with that side.
Ajith probably missed playing a grey character for a long time until he banked on Venkat Prabhu (right after Goa) with his 50th film, the golden number.
The result was an uber mass film, Mankatha, which had enough high points to keep audiences entertained from start to end.
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Ajith was an unleashed rogue who cherished every bit of this character. The performance left everyone awestruck – stars, critics and fans alike.
So much so that every mass hero who never wanted to mess with his image decided to make an exception.
Multistarrers
Unlike other film industries, multistarrers were a bit rare in Tamil cinema. There were some exceptions but actors were very unsure about acting with equals.
In Mankatha, apart from playing a character with shades of grey, Ajith also partnered with seasoned actor Arjun Sarja, paving the way for more such films in the future.
In 2012, Ajith played a cameo (Amitabh’s role) in Sridevi’s comeback movie English Vinglish’s Tamil version.
In 2013, he joined hands with Arya and Nayantara for Arrambam – a more acceptable modern-day multistarrer.
Even today, a movie filled with stars is not frequent in Tamil but films like Jilla, Thani Oruvan, Vikram Vedha, Petta and Master are giving hope.
Playing his age
Though the debate is still open, the notion that stars need to look good is still there, irrespective of whether they abide by it or not.
In a shocking move, Ajith decided to sport a salt and pepper look in Mankatha and won the hearts of the masses on a large scale.
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Many thought it would be a one-off since in his very next film he opted for full black hair.
But Ajith again brought it back, kept it for all his performances and also made it a point to be vocal about his age in his movies.
Eventually, even the biggest stars who wanted to remain young on screen forever showed their age.
Sequels
Weirdly, sequels never took off in Tamil cinema for a long time. Maybe it was a superstition or it was some jinx.
There were one or two films, for instance, Kamal Haasan’s Japanil Kalayanaraman (1985) which in all likelihood is the second part of Kalyanaraman (1970) but it never had the sequel tag attached to it.
Well, it all changed with Billa 2 in which Ajith went back to trace the life of David Billa, thus breaking the mould.
Soon more sequels started with the Singam series, Maari, Pizza and many more.
Even though the previous decade had one of his best commercial films, it also had moments when the star took the backseat.
In 2020, his next film is with director Vinoth titled Valimai. Here’s to a very happy birthday and another successful decade for Ajith.
Source: The New Indian Express