I like this feeling
of thrill
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We are on the shooting spot of
“Anjanaya”. It’s oppresively hot. Looking for a
cool spot, Ajith was inside an AC van. His hair
was close-shaven and he was wearing a cotton
shirt. He has lost 7 or 8 kilos. He was drinking a
hot honey tea. His way of speaking was also
hot like a cup of tea.
K.R. has recently spoken on
behalf of all the producers by saying these words :”
It’s wrong of Ajith to get involved in car race and
to try his hand at piloting planes. An actor shouldn’t
take such risks”. What do you think about it?
I
thank him for caring about me. It’s true that car race
is something dangerous . But I like this feeling of
thrill. If you go round the film sets the whole year,
you’ll go mad. Do I have to sacrifice my personal
pleasures for cinema? If you think that it’s a risk
that I get involved in car races, don’t come and see
me, don’t do films with me. Accidents can happen
anywhere. I won’t give up car race untill I achieve
success in it.
What do you fear the most for your
phisycal health?
I am afraid when I think of
the actual physical condition of Christopher Reeves,
the hero of the film Superman. Nobody but him,
in the USA, has spent so much money to keep himself
fit. He kept his body slim so as to do horse-riding.
He has been seriousely injured at his spinal column
and, today, he’s not able to live autonomously. I can
bear any pain. But if ever I had to endure what
happened to Christopher and if I had to rely on the
others to live... No. It would be the greatest sadness
of my life. That’s what I fear the most for my health.
But, in spite of that, you take
part in car races and in fight scenes, which are
dangerous...
You can’t achieve anything
if you’re afraid of accidents. You can’t prevent
accidents in car races. Only one month ago, I had
an accident at my knee during the shooting of a
fight scene. I had an operation and I came back to
act. I also had an accident at my spinal column
during the shooting of Vaalee. I was
admited in hospital and I had an operation. Within
3 weeks, I came back to act in all the climax
scenes of the film. What do you think about that?
( Pointing his head out with his
index finger) : The whole power is inside it. You
can’t assess
your “inner- power” under normal
circumstances. It acquires the whole of its strenght
in critical situations. You must use it correctly.
It seems that you become estranged
from the others actors...You don’t take part in shows
and in other events. Why?
Nobody helped me when I went
through difficult times. I stayed in bed during the 2
years which followed my accident . Nobody came to see
me. I coped on my own. I don’t participate to the
things I don’t appreciate. Other people can do
whatever they want.
Some people accuse some top actors
like you to damage cinema by demanding excessively
high salaries. What’s your opinion on that?
When I started in cinema,
they gave me a set salary , telling me these
words: “You are a new-comer, you don’t have any
market and not any fans. That’s quite a luck that
we take you on as the hero of our film”. These
people were right at that time. But, is it fair to
ask us to
don’t increase our salary after
having won some fame? If a producer has suffered losts
because of an actor, he can always ask this actor to
act free in another film which is produced by him. Why
should we reduce our salary?
The dream of all the young actors
is to take Rajini’s place, one day. According to most
of the people, Vikram seems all set to succeed in it.
What are your views on it?
At the time when all my
films were hits, people said the same. Now, it’s
Vikram’s turn. There was a time when I too, was
attracted to this aura of fame. If the next film
is a flop, then, everything will change. As long
as our films are hits, people shower us with
praise. If the following films are flops, then,
things will completely change. We also have to be
prepared to that kin d
of situation.
If only two of their films are
hits,some actors straightaway think of entering
politics. What about you?
M.G.R.,
Jayalalitha and “Kalaygnar”...All three of them are
cinema artists who have become politicians. But, for
that, they have devoted the whole of their life to
cinema. They have also created their own political
party, they have developed it. They have went up
little by little and they have finally become Chief
Ministres. Being a successful actor is not enough to
become a C.M. The current C.M. has certainely
sacrificed a lot for politics. Are these actors ready
to sacrifice so much? Politics isn’t a game.
The Tamil cinema is the only one to
show its heroes as special characters, by exaggerating
the heroism of these ones. What do you think about it?
I have no idea as far as the other actors are
concerned. But from now on, there won’t be things like
that in my films.
Source :
Kalaymaamani Ajith
Translated by Kavitha
August 2003
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