Kamal Haasan to Ajith: Tamil actors who said 'no' to titles

Actor Haasan, who recently celebrated his birthday on November 7, today came out with the announcement asking his fans to drop the usage of Ulaganagayan. The term, which translates to Universal Hero, is widely used by his fans, media and the film fraternity. The Thug Life actor has also requested everyone to refer to him simply his name Kamal Haasan, Kamal or KH. He said that though he was deeply grateful by the endearing title, the artist shouldn't become bigger than the art.

This is not the first time that an actor has relinquished his title. Years ago, actor Ajith, who was earlier referred to as Ultimate Star and Thala had put out a similar message in which he said that he preferred his fans to call him Ajith, Ajith Kumar or just AK. He asked his fans to not use any prefixes thus sort of becoming a trendsetter among those relinquishing titles.

A few days before his 36th birthday, Dhanush was bestowed with the title Ilaya Superstar (Young superstar) by producer Kalaipuli Thanu. However, Dhanush said that he preferred to be addressed by his name and added that he didn't need any special title. He added that there was only one Superstar and that is actor Rajinikanth.

Actor Jayam Ravi got the prefix 'Jayam' after his maiden film Jayam in which he teamed up with Sada. The romantic action drama was helmed by his elder brother M Raja. After a few films, he was offered the title Ilam Puyal. However, the actor refused to use the tag.

Though Suriya has been affectionally addressed as Nadippin Nayagan by his fans, the actor has time and again clarified that he didn't believe in titles and that he simply preferred to be addressed by his name.

Vishal was given the title Puratchi Thalapathy which translates to ‘revolutionary leader’ after he appeared in a spate of socially relevant films. After using the tag in a few movies, Vishal let go of the title. However, the actor reclaimed the title in his last release Mark Antony in which he teamed up along with SJ Suryah.