Tamil actor Ajith Kumar in an exclusive chat with India Today TV opened up on receiving Padma Bhushan. The 'Good Bad Ugly' actor described the recognition as surreal and overwhelming. "Honestly, it still hasn’t sunk in. I’m still a plain middle-class person at heart, and it feels so surreal to be here and experiencing all these emotions. I’m happy and overwhelmed," he said.
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00:00moment that all of you have been waiting for. Superstar, or Tala as he's popularly called,
00:05Ajit Kumar's first interview in 10 years. I sat down with him for over 60 minutes where he's
00:12spoken about his career, he's spoken about his love for motorsport, for racing, he's spoken about
00:18what really drives him as an actor, some of his best performances about politics too. A lot really
00:24that Ajit Kumar had to say, and I'm very, very excited to bring to you part one of this podcast
00:31interview with superstar Ajit Kumar. Enjoy this.
00:36Shri S. Ajit Kumar, Kala Film Abhinay.
00:42Joining us here on India Today is Mr. Ajit Kumar, or rather Padma Bhushan. Ajit Kumar,
00:48thank you so much for joining us. Congratulations, first of all. Has it sunk in that you're now a
00:53Padma Bhushan?
00:56Manakam Ashita, honestly, it still hasn't sunk in. Like I said, I'm still very middle class
01:05at heart, you know, so it feels so surreal to be here, you know, experiencing all these emotions.
01:13I would like to thank the government of India to have received the award from the Honorable
01:19President, Srimati Draupadi Muradji, and Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Mohdiji. I wish to thank them,
01:28the firm fraternity, the motorsports fraternity, my friends from the aeromodelling, you know,
01:36fraternity, and the Rifle Club of Chennai. I think I owe to all of them. And of course, my family,
01:46my biggest support, my parents, my siblings, Shalini, my kids, Anoushka. We saw them very proudly,
01:55applauding when you were there. And yeah, Shalini, she made so many sacrifices, so she's been the
02:02pillar of my, extremely grateful, grateful to the universe. And of course, Suresh, I mean,
02:08my family and all of them have been through some very difficult times. And fans have been receiving
02:17unconditional love. And there have been good days, bad days. And yeah, things have been good. So I hope
02:26it remains this way. What was that moment like? You found out in January, a few months ago. What was that
02:33moment like? What were the emotions that you went through? Because do you feel, you know, this means
02:37that you've peaked as an actor? Firstly, very over-went. And secondly, moments like this inspire,
02:46or it kind of reassures you that you're on the right path. And to continue to do what I have been
02:52doing all these years. You know, when you were honored with the Padma Bhushan, I remember posting
02:58about it, and I referred to you as superstar. And I got a lot of comments from your fans saying,
03:03no, Ajit sir doesn't like being called a superstar, doesn't like being called Thaler. Is that your
03:08secret to success? Staying grounded? Because you are a superstar.
03:11No, I don't believe in all these, what shall we say? These tags.
03:17Yeah, you know, suffixes to your name. And just, I prefer being called Ajit, AK, or whatever. See, just
03:25another job. If you really, just another job. I mean, I'm an actor by profession, I get paid for it,
03:31doing my job. Fame, fortune are all byproducts of your work, you know. So I think, I love my job. I love what
03:44I've been doing for the last 33 years. And trying to keep my life as simple as I can.
03:52You've done more than one thing, I think, in 33 years, besides acting, which is a full-time job in
03:58itself. You're also a racer. You're also a shooter. How do you find the time to, you know, juggle all of
04:05these things? I think I've been very lucky. My friends, I had friends who had, you know, varied
04:14interests like him in rifle shooting or aeromodelling. So it gave me the opportunity to pursue those
04:20hobbies. So like they say, being at the right place, at the right time with the right people,
04:25that's why I lucked out. You know, can I just say that it's so wonderful that you acknowledge your
04:32wife's contribution and the fact that she's made sacrifices. Not many men do that. And I think
04:36you're setting a great example. No, I'm not trying to sound politically correct here. I mean it in
04:42every sense. As you all know, she's acting popular, so much loved by the people. And for her to just,
04:50you know, take a back seat and support me every step. I mean, there have been times and probably my
04:57decisions have not been the right decisions, but still stood by me, not discouraging me, you know,
05:04and then standing by my side during the tough times. She deserves a lot of credit for everything
05:12that I have achieved in my life. Probably living a dream. Like even the whole, you know, this experience
05:19of being here, receiving the Padma Bhushan. It's so surreal. I'm scared that, you know, somebody
05:25kind of wake me up, you know, pinch me and wake me up. And it was all a dream. It's like, I'm scared
05:33that, you know, I'd wake up, you know, thinking this is all a dream. So, I'm extremely grateful, extremely grateful.
05:55So, I'll see you next time.