Ajith Kumar Birthday Special: 7 Movies That Made Thala Go Beyond His Mass Persona Image

Ajith Kumar is in such a phase of his career that critics and bad reviews don't matter anymore at the box office. His last few films, including the likes of Vedalam, Vivegam and Viswasam, all were blockbusters even though their critical consensus were love. Why, Viswasam, that was released along with Rajinikanth's Petta during Pongal this year, went on to make more than the other film, despite the latter being better received by critics. Even overseas, his films do better business than some of the popular Bollywood movies. This is quite an incredible achievement for the actor, with no strong filmy family connections, and who started off as a chocolate boy-next-door. Did Ajith Kumar Get Rid of His Beard for Nerkonda Paarvai? Actor’s New Look LEAKED Online.

In short, Ajith has a huge stake for the title of King of the box office when it comes to Tamil Nadu. Of course, there are accusations against him of not experimenting with his roles. Sure, Ajith loves to do massy roles and it is more for his incredibly huge fanbase. But if you have followed his career, you know he loves to do diverse roles even in his mainstream movies.

As Ajith Kumar aka Thala, as his fans call him, turns 48 today, let's look at seven movies of his in the past two decades where the superstar went beyond his massy persona!

Asoka

Let's start with his first and only foray into Bollywood, and also into historicals. In this Shah Rukh Khan film, Ajith Kumar played Prince Susima, Asoka's scheming, jealous step-brother who wants him dead. This is one of those rare times when Ajith played a negative role without a double role to balance it out, unlike the next entry.

Vaali

In this highly engaging thriller with some really terrific songs, Ajith plays twins. One of whom is a mute stalker who lusts after his trusting brother's wife. Icky!

Varalaru

Ajith is a fine performer and that is established in Varalaru, where he excelled both as an effeminate dancer and a remorseless killer. Ajith won a Filmfare award for the Best Actor and rightly so!

Kandukondain Kandukondain

Before he went all massy, Ajith has done some really great romantic roles in the past. The reason why we picked this Rajeev Kumar film is that it is one of the rare times Ajith was in romantic elements and also played well in an ensemble.

Mankatha

Sure, he has done grey roles, but Ajith in Mankatha was an evil guy. A manipulative, remorseless schemer, who doesn't mind breaking hearts and killing people, Ajith was quite fun to watch as delivered one punchline after another in this Venkat Prabhu film.

Yennai Arindhaal

Ajith Kumar plays a righteous cop in this Gautham Menon blockbuster that also has him as a single father. In fact, some of the best scenes in the movie is him in his paternal persona.

English Vinglish

Ajith has a cameo in the Tamil version of this Sridevi film (Amitabh Bachchan did the same role in Hindi). It was fun to watch Ajith let himself loose in a heartwarming hilarious role that makes us wish he had more screentime.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 01, 2019 02:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).