Camera…Action…Race: Superstar Ajith Kumar is used to delivering the biggest hits – whether on track or off it!

I was exposed to Motorsports since the age of six. My father, P.S. Mani, worked for a pharmaceutical company called Biddle Sawyer, and one of its directors, Vimal Shah used to drive for Vijay Malaya’s team in the national races. So, when the Shollavaram races would happen, all the cars would come down and be parked at our home premises in Alwarpet – it was the whole motley bunch of radical racers, Fiats, Dolphins etc., and then all the single seaters would be parked there as well. As kids when we would return from school, we would quickly finish our tiffins and homework early so that we could go and sit with the mechanics and they would give us parts of the car to clean or even clean the carbon from the engine blocks and then my brother, myself and our friends would sit in the car pretending to be race car drivers and then obviously we would be driven down to the circuit and see the races, so that’s my first exposure to motorsports. When I turned 18, I took up motorcycle racing and rode the inaugural races at Sri Perumbudur in 1990. I made my debut in motorcycle racing and would ride in the 110cc category, Group C so I went on to do that for 3 years.

It was in August 1992 that I started shooting for my first film, Prema Pusthakam, a Telugu language film. Unfortunately, the director passed away tragically on the tenth day of shooting for the film, but eventually the film was completed and released. By this time, I had an audition for a Tamil film, since I was brought up in Chennai and was very fluent in the language, but it so happened that this new film and the earlier film got released in 1994. I now started focusing exclusively on my film career, and then in 2002, I once again took up racing, this time with single-seaters. I was 32 then, so pretty late to start racing cars, but I persevered, and in the last race, last round, I finished fourth, and that motivated me to go in for bigger things, and I signed up with Akbar Ebrahim. Along with others, we formed a team to participate in the Formula BMW racing championships and did all the rounds, and we did fairly well. I qualified 4^th in Korea, finished 6^th and another 6^th place finish in Johor Baru, so my teammate Raj and Ihave always done very well, generally finishing in the top 10. In 2004, I decided to participate in the British Formula 3 class, but unfortunately could not complete the season because of my filming commitments and had to leave midway. I was lucky to have podium finishes in P3, including at the iconic Donnington Park circuit.

I was trying to paddle in two boats at the same time but I realised this is not working. So after 2004 and taking part in the British Formula 3, I did nothing for six years. Then in 2010, I decided to participate in the Formula 2 European Championship. There again I participated in four rounds, the last being Monza and since in those days you had to qualify within the 107% of the pole setter’s time and I did just that, starting for every race I gave my entry for. In Monza, I finished 13^th and then hung up my booths thinking that’s it. But then in 2024, I met racing driver Fabian Duffeiux in Dubai, where I currently live. He was working with BMW there and it was through him that things suddenly started falling in place. Through him I drove a cup car at the Dubai autodrome – it was just for fun and my timings were pretty decent, within 3-4 seconds of his pace, so he said that you still have it within you, why don’t you give it a shot and that got me thinking.

You know not many people are aware of the endurance format. Sure, they know about rallying, they know some racing, Formula, etc. But not much exposure here, so I thought why not give it a try? It would be a nice way to get back to racing, so I formed a team – Ajith Kumar Racing and both Fabian and Mathieu Detry, with Cameron McLeod (our fourth driver) decided to do the 24-hour races. But you have to start somewhere, hence we started with the 12-hour races as well, and we have done well. At the Creventic series events in Dubai, Spa and Mugello, we managed three podium finishes, two P3s and one P2.

I realised that I was not doing justice to both. I was racing between filming and filming between racing. So, it was a lot of ups and downs. I thought the best way to concentrate would be not to film during the racing season. Our racing season in Europe starts in March and ends in October, but for that one-off race that happens in Dubai in January. So, if I can squeeze in a film between the November to February period, I will then have a film release every year, and I can also focus on my racing program. Be it as a team owner or a driver, at least for the next six years. I am actually very passionate about my films and this year I complete my 33^rd year in the film industry. It is a subject I care deeply about and I have a reputation to keep as an actor. Dividing my time between my two passions would mean that I give exclusive time to both and will also silence the critics who think that my film career is over.I am lucky that I have producers and directors who share my vision for the next six years and you will see a spate of quality film releases every year. I will be starting to film a new project in November this year which hopefully release sometime around April/May 2026.

First of all, visibility and I will use cricket as an example here. Cricket is almost a religion in India and that is also thanks to the great visibility – it is all over TV, OTT platforms, internet – you name it. Everybody knows the game; people play it everywhere. They play it in gullies, at home, in school fields or in parks. When its televised, visibility is great. That’s what the sponsors want. So technically if motor racing in India was televised for greater visibility or even made popular through web portals, people would also come to know that there are different formats in racing, Formula 2, 3 and 4, the 24-hour Le Mans as the pinnacle of endurance racing, the Creventic series, GT3 world challenge – that’s how I think sponsors would also want to come in and play a part to uplift the sports, provide infrastructure. We have spoken to the Creventic management on whether they can hold a round here after Dubai, where they generally finish the season in January. Maybe they could have a round here and go to Dubai or do the season finale here in India. Chennai could be a good option because it’s a port or they could even do a street race. This will help everybody both in terms of the public as well as professional drivers – maybe there could be a wildcard entry from here. The series by itself would get a lot of visibility from a country of 144 crore people, and even if 0.5% of people follow and take up the sport, you are looking at a greater population than the UK. Let me be honest, I love motorsports and racing, and I am indulging in something I love very much and, in the process, if it promotes the sport through my fans and the media to the general public as well, I am sure it would be a win-win situation for everyone.

After 15 years of being away from the racing circuit, I needed to get back in racing form. So, I took part in the Southern European Porsche cup and sprint challenges, totalling about eight races in four weeks. I did pretty well. While I was testing at the Paul Ricard circuit for the GT cup car, the organisers of the GT4 series were kind enough to invite me to participate thereon, so I gave my entry there as well, so that was 12 races over 6 weekends. We have also given our entry for the Creventic 24-hour series, so that’s 6 rounds including Dubai. There will be races at Spa, Mugello and a few more places with the finals at Barcelona, with the last being a 24-hour. That means 27 races, of which I have done 14, with another 13 remaining.

I used to be obese at one point, but the day I decided to get back into racing, I realised I needed to be fit again. I have lost 42 kilos over the last 8 months, from August of 2024 to now. A combination diet, portion control and exercises like swimming and cycling. I have become a teetotaller and a vegetarian. I am doing all the things necessary to be super fit because endurance races are highly demanding, and to get to the highest levels, I need to give my heart and soul to racing, which I am doing right now.

Here I would like to draw a parallel with my films. You know I like to do most of the stunts in my films by myself, and as a result of that, I have taken many shunts. The number of surgeries I have had because of that is mind-boggling. But does that mean I want to give up action-oriented films? Not at all – on the contrary, I want to get back as soon as I can, and that is the same with motorsports. The similarity between motorsports and films is that they are both emotionally and physically demanding. It wires you differently. So, if you see my racing footage from Valencia, you will see I toppled my car, but was immediately trying to restart it because I did not want a DNF. The adrenaline is so high that sometimes you don’t even notice you have been hurt. You just want to get back into racing.

The GT Porsche 992 Cup is right now our aim, but we would like to move to the GT3 championship. But it is also a function of money, and motorsports is a very expensive sport. So, I am looking for partners as well. I wouldn’t call them sponsors, because sponsors mean that you are just looking for money to get a seat. We run a professional team here with all the extremely large overheads they entail, including logistics, insurances and the whole works, including any damages which the team bears. I don’t want my drivers to be inconvenienced in any way. Right now, we have managed a lot on our own so you can imagine what we can achieve if we have the right partners on board. In the future, I want to establish AKR as an international team and even have a professional Indian driver on board. One day, hopefully, we will even be worthy enough to get an invite to drive in the Le Mans 24-hour race.

I am a huge Ayrton Senna fan, and always wanted to own the McLaren Senna. I had been pursuing this car for some time, and recently was fortunate enough to acquire the 20^th example out of the 500 total ever built – and that is my dream come true.

It is a very humbling experience. It’s an overwhelming experience, but it also comes with a lot of responsibility. You have to live up to that honour. It’s made me very conscious, and now that I am doing both racing and movies, I am determined to strive and work harder and make everybody around me proud. The award has really motivated me and sort of reassures me that I have been on the right path, and inspires me to do better, both in motorsports and films. I have never focused on rewards; I believe all the money and the recognition is a direct result of the work you put in. I came into the film industry because I needed to repay my bad debts that I had incurred. So, I kept my focus straight and never wavered from the path of work ethics.