Ajith Kumar (born 1 May 1971), often mononymously called Ajith, is an Indian film actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, Ajith has starred in over 50 films. In addition to his acting, he is also a motor car racer and participated in the MRF Racing series (2010).
He began his career with a small role in the 1990 Tamil film En Veedu En Kanavar. Singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam introduced Ajith to Tamil film industry by referring him to play lead role in Amaravathi (1993). Then, Ajith starred in film Prema Pusthakam (1993), and his first critical acclaimed appearance was in the thriller Aasai (1995). He subsequently established himself as a romantic hero with Kadhal Kottai (1996), Aval Varuvala (1998) and Kadhal Mannan (1998). Successful films such as Vaali (1999), Mugavaree (2000), Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000) and Citizen (2001) followed. He established himself as an action hero starting with film Amarkalam (1999), in which he co-starred with his future wife, Shalini.