Nerkonda Paarvai is releasing on August 8, and it has already garnered a very good response from the Chennai critics during the early press screenings. If I am not wrong, this is the first Ajith film since Yennai Arindhaal to not only generate a huge pre-release buzz but also make the critics happy. Thala Ajith steps into the shoes of Amitabh Bachchan for the remake of the 2016 film PINK, which also starred Taapsee Pannu. The remake is directed by H Vinoth of Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru fame. Nerkonda Paarvai Movie Review: Critics Call Thala Ajith's Remake of Pink One of His Best Films to Date.

This is not the first Amitabh Bachchan movie whose remake Ajith Kumar had starred in. Earlier he had played the lead role in Billa, a remake of a 1980 Rajinikanth film by the same, that was itself lifted from Amitabh Bachchan's Don. In 2012, Ajith had reprised Amitabh Bachchan's cameo in the Tamil version of Sridevi's English Vinglish. Apart from these movies, Ajith had also starred in Aegan, which was a remake of Shah Rukh Khan's Main Hoon Na.

It is not just that Thala has been doing remakes of Bollywood, even Bollywood has returned the favour. Like Sanjay Kapoor's Sirf Tum was a remake of Ajith's 1996 film Kadhal Kottai. There have been talks going on about remaking Veeram and Vedalam in Bollywood. But if Bollywood film-makers are seriously interested in remaking Ajith's movies, we have five awesome recommendations for them, as well as offering a hint on who could play his role.

Mankatha

Whenever Ajith goes grey, it usually happens in a film where he has a double role. Like, Billa or Vaali. Venkat Prabhu's delightfully black Mankatha changes that rule with Ajith playing an out and out negative character, whose every action is pushed by a sense of selfishness. As the rogue cop lusting after a don's tremendous loot and taking down anyone who is in his path, Ajith owns the movie with a scenery-chewing performance.

Who Should Play His Role: Shah Rukh Khan. Who can play negative roles better than him without looking awfully despicable?

Yennai Arindhaal

Ajith and director Gautham Menon collaborated in 2015 for Yennai Arindhaal. An action thriller, the movie has Ajith play an IPS officer who infiltrates into a gang to take them down, only for an old enemy to return and threaten the lives of his and his daughter. Yennai Arindhaal not only shows the machoism of its lead actor, but also explores the sensitive side of his performance.

Who Should Play His Role: Salman Khan. Salman is always good when he plays a cop. And we always get to see rarely seen nuance in his performance, when he acts with kids.

Arrambham

A thriller, directed by Ashok Kumar, Arrambham has Ajith Kumar play a suspect terrorist who blackmails a hacker (Arya) to do illegal things. Later, in the movie, both the hacker and the audience find out that he is not a terrorist, instead, he is seeking vendetta against certain corrupt bureaucrats. The movie also stars Nayanthara, Taapsee Pannu and Rana Daggubati.

Who Should Play His Role: Ajay Devgn. Devgn has shown a flair of revelling in characters with duplicitous nature, and he would certainly own the role here.

Vaali

Vaali's romantic plot where the good Ajith woos Simran's character using deception is problematic and definitely needs tweaking. Otherwise, this is a very arresting thriller, with a tinge of erotica, where Ajith excels both as the kind-hearted, unassuming hero and his creepy, mute evil twin who is obsessed with his brother's wife.

Who Should Play His Role: Shahid Kapoor. The actor can portray a brilliant range of emotions, as we have already learnt by now. Also, he was so good in Kaminey, where he had a double role.

Amarkalam

AKA that movie where Ajith Kumar met his future wife, Shalini. Apart from this huge personal moment for the star, Amarkalam, directed by Saran, is an engaging romantic drama with enough doses of action. Ajith plays a goon who falls for a girl belonging to a police family, while his mentor, played by the late Raghuvaran, creates trouble in their relationship.

Who Should Play His Role: Varun Dhawan. The young superstar can pull off the brawny act, while also showing us his softer side with ease.

Let's end this feature with a brief piece of trivia about Ajith's sole Hindi outing. The actor, who never bothered to make a mark in Bollywood, however, made his debut there in a negative role with Asoka. The revisionist historical drama, starred Shah Rukh Khan as King Asoka, while Ajith played his devious stepbrother, Susima.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 07, 2019 07:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).