I'm A Middle-Class At Heart: Ajith Kumar In His First Interview In A Decade

Ajith Kumar has given his first interview in a decade. The actor, who is fondly known as Thala among his millions of fans, has said that he is a middle-class at heart and receiving the Padma Award "still hasn't sunk in."

Speaking to India Today, the actor said: "Honestly, it still hasn't sunk in. Like I said, I'm still very middle-class at heart, you know. So it feels so surreal to be here, experiencing all these emotions." He thanked the Indian government, President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for honouring him with the award.

He also mentioned the film fraternity, the motorsports fraternity, and friends from the aeromodelling fraternity, and the rifle club of Chennai for their support.

Ajith Thanks Family

Thanking his family for the support, he continued: "And of course, my family-your biggest support system-my biggest support: my parents, my siblings, Charini, my kids Anoushka and Advik. We saw them very proudly applauding. Shalini has made so many sacrifices; she's been the pillar of my life. I'm extremely grateful to her and grateful to the universe and of course to my family and all of them who stood by me through some very difficult times. And fans have been giving me unconditional love; there have been good days and bad days, but things have been good, so I hope it remains this way."

Reflecting on learning about the Padma Award in January, he told the English channel: "Firstly, I was very overwhelmed. Secondly, moments like this inspire you or reassure you that you're on the right path and should continue doing what I've been doing all these years."

Ajith Doesn't Believe In Suffixes

The actor is referred to by many names but Ajith does not believe in all these tags or suffixes to his name. Ajith prefers being called Ajith or AK. "See, it's just another job if you really think about it-just another job. I'm an actor by profession; I get paid for doing my job. Fame and fortune are all byproducts of your work, you know? So I think I love my job; I love what I've been doing for the last 33 years and try to keep my life as simple as I can," he added.

When asked about balancing his acting career with passions like racing, shooting, and aeromodelling, Ajith credited luck and the influence of friends with varied interests for providing him opportunities. "I think I've been very lucky. My friends had varied interests like rifle shooting or aeromodelling which gave me the opportunity to pursue those hobbies. Like they say, being at the right place at the right time with the right people-I lucked out.

Ajith Praises Shalini

He reiterated his profound appreciation for his wife Shalini's support, calling her sacrifices genuine. The 53-year-old said: "No, I'm not trying to sound politically correct here; I mean it in every sense. As you all know she was acting popular and loved by many people before she decided to take a backseat and support me every step of the way.

There have been times when probably my decisions were not right but she still stood by me without discouraging me during tough times; she deserves a lot of credit for everything I've achieved in life-probably living a dream like even this whole experience of receiving the Padma Bhushan feels so surreal I'm scared someone might wake me up thinking it's all just a dream!"

Ajith Kumar is basking in the success of his recent movie Good Bad Ugly. The movie has earned Rs 1.2 crore (nett) on Tuesday. The movie has made Rs 145.9 crore in 16 days. However, his other movie Vidaamuyarchi, which was released in February, failed to set the box office on fire.