A real charmer with his smile, the honcho walker with people awestruck and the super hero for the masses and the classes alike, join IndiaGlitz in celebrating Ultimate Star Ajith’s birthday today.

After a couple of movies like ‘Pavithra’ and ‘Amaravathi’, Ajith was recognized in his power-packed performance in ‘Aasai’. He stole the hearts of many with his captivating smile. He just didn’t seem like the guy next door, but like a handsome graceful star. Here started the real journey to ‘ultimate’ stardom.

With female following increasing by the day, his lover boy image took new turns with movies like ‘Kadhal Kottai’ and ‘Kadhal Mannan’. Here was a foundation built for the next generation of romantic heroes in Tamil cinema. With tough competition from heroes like handsome Prashanth and highly energetic Vijay who is supposedly labelled as Ajith’s archrival.

Though competition existed, Ajith continued attracting people of all classes of audience. Be it his costumes, his body language or his youth appeal, he managed to strike a chord with the youth with a thriller like ‘Vaali’, his first double-role movie, with one of the characters being a deaf and mute. ‘Vaali’ was a milestone in Ajith’s character that made him sow the seeds for an invincible future.

Meaty roles come to those who are in business and Ajith didn’t miss those opportunities. He was part of many multi-starrers as well, ‘Ullasam’ with Vikram, and a biggy in the form of ‘Kandukonden Kandukonden’(KK) starring Malayalam super star Mammootty, Tamil star Abbas along with Bollywood heroines Tabu and Aishwarya. In ‘KK’, Ajith was at his charismatic best.

Transition is something that is natural to all beings in this Universe. Be it the celestial bodies, environment or even humans. Ajith slowly shed his lover boy image and grabbed the mass appeal with sensational director Saran’s ‘Amarkalam’ that happened to be the 25th movie for Ajith. He played a rugged character and probably turned out to be his gateway to superstardom. His heroine in the movie Shalini, was not just someone he would see only at the sets, but later made her his better half. Now they’re a happily married couple with their little one Anoushka.

A series of movies that catapulted Ajith to the masses happened. ‘Dheena’ directed by A.R Murugadoss, was one such movie that saw Ajith fight and stretch his muscles. Fans went berserk seeing him use his fists and legs to battle the villains out, making Ajith ready for the 100% Commercial Ingredient Film Menu! He was branded ‘Thala’!

Starting here saw a rough patch with a journey not so smooth. After the transition to a mass hero, a few movies were not really impressive and fans were disappointed. In spite of that, Ajith came up with a revolutionary movie titled ‘Citizen’ where the audience saw him in 10 different get ups. With prosthetics and expensive make up, Ajith pulled off an extraordinary performance.

With experience counting on his side, Ajith became a saleable and dependable actor. With ups and downs, he was always a consistent performer. His ‘Villain’ and ‘God Father’ that was changed to ‘Varalaru’ both directed by K S Ravikumar, made the audience realize Ajith was an actor par excellence. Acting in a triple role in ‘Varalaru’, Ajith indicated his stand for difference in roles unlike his counterparts.

With commercial movies on one side, Ajith spares a lot of time for his devout passion of automobile racing. His interest for the sport is so humongous that the actor has spent exorbitantly on it. Racing on both bikes and cars, Ajith’s concentration was more towards the rocketing cars. After participating at various levels, he is currently participating in the Formula 2 championships. Ask him about his performance, his spirits are always high and he says it’s the interest that keeps him going!

Transition happens at every stage. After the glorious reception among the masses, Ajith climbed to the next level. Doing a gamble by acting in the remake of yesteryear ‘Billa’, Ajith was loaded with style with powerful weapons and classy suits. A sense of expectation for fans had risen and so not to fail them, Ajith changed his looks for subsequent movies like ‘Aegan’ and ‘Aasal’.

His 50th movie is coming up, that too with a director of substance, Gautham Vasudev Menon. Eluding away from how the story would be, besides loads of style and action, his fans can be assured of what the movie holds, it is Ajith, Ajith and just Ajith!

Listen to the best of Ajith’s super hits at Raaga. Exclusive compilations for Ajith’s fans!