page_title: Ajith Kumar
section_title: 2008–present
hierarchical_section_title: Ajith Kumar / Acting career / 2008–present
caption_attribution_description: English: Actor Ajith Kumar and actress Sridevi on the sets of the film English Vinglish.
context_page_description: Ajith Kumar is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Referred to by fans and media as "Thala". To date, Ajith has starred in over 50 films. Among his awards include four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. In addition to his acting, he is also a motor car racer and participated in the MRF Racing series.
  He began his career with a small role in the 1990 Tamil film En Veedu En Kanavar. He established himself as a romantic hero with Kadhal Kottai, Aval Varuvala and Kadhal Mannan, and established himself as an action hero starting with film Amarkalam. Ajith's dual portrayal of twin brothers—where one is deaf-mute—in S. J. Surya's Vaali won him his first Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actor. He earned critical acclaim for his dual role performance in the vigilante film Citizen. In 2006, he starred in Varalaru, in which he played three different roles. It became the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2006. The following year he starred in two remakes—Kireedam and Billa, both of which earned him critical acclaim.
context_section_description: After Billa, Ajith appeared in the film, Ayngaran International's production Aegan, directed by the choreographer turned director Raju Sundaram. The film, a remake of the 2004 Hindi comedy Main Hoon Na, received mixed reviews and was a failure at the box office.
  Following a year of production, Ajith's Aasal, released in February 2010, taking a grand opening at the box office. The film, which also featured Ajith in dual roles, also failed at the box office despite bigger expectations.
  After a second foray into motor racing, Ajith signed a film directed by Venkat Prabhu, titled Mankatha, which notably became his 50th project. The film featured him in a full-length negative role as Vinayak Mahadevan, a suspended police officer with a lust for money. His performance and his decision to portray a character with negative shade, breaking the stereotype hero image in Tamil cinema, were lauded by critics, with reviewers from Sify and Rediff terming the film as an "out and out Ajith film" that worked "only because of Ajith". Heaping praise on the actor's performance, the former noted that he "rocks as the man with ice in his veins as the mean and diabolic cop" and that he played "the emotionless bad man, to perfection", while the latter wrote that practically "he carried the whole film on his capable shoulders". Mankatha became a financially successful venture.
  Ajith then starred in Billa II, a sequel to his 2007 film Billa, which released on 13 July 2012. Reviewers appreciated Ajith's on-screen presence and stunts but blamed him for the choice of story and the director. Eventually, the film performed poorly at the box office.
  He starred in Vishnuvardhan's Arrambam, alongside Arya, Nayantara and Taapsee Pannu, which was released on 31 October, and earned positive reviews from both critics and audience. His next film after Arrambam was Veeram, directed by Siva and co-starring Tamannaah, which was released on Pongal 2014, which also earned positive reviews from critics. Ajith's next film was Yennai Arindhaal, with Gautham Menon as director. Ajith's performance as cop was widely praised with a critic calling it "Ajith's best since Kandukondain Kandukondain". Ajith was subsequently nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil in the 63rd Filmfare Awards South. Ajith worked with Siva again in Vedalam (2015), in which critics praised his performance. His latest project is Vivegam which received mixed to negative reviews with critics citing illogical scenes and average screenplay. Viswasam released during Pongal festival of January 2019 is a box office hit having sentiment and action scenes which made it attractive for his fans and family audiences. Nerkonda Parvai which becomes the 2nd movie for Ajith in 2019.
caption: Ajith and actress Sridevi on the set of English Vinglish (2012)
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