Ajith Kumar on Racing, Life Philosophy & 33 Years of Cinema | Cover Star | THR India

There are two ways you can go about living your life. You can always complain to him or you can just move on like a warrior and every warrior goes to battle knowing that he will not come back. Success is like a wild house, anybody can hop onto it. But if you cannot tame it, it will throw you off, waiting for the next one to hop on. I'm extremely grateful to Shalini. All this could not have been possible

without her support. The only thing with motorsports is there's no retake. Welcome to The Hollywood Reporter India. I'm thrilled to be sitting here at the Dubai Auto Room in front of these stunning cars, which feel to me like works of art. And since you've always said that you are not a fan of suffixes and labels, I'm simply going to call you Ajit.

Please do. And that's fine. And thank you Anupamaji for coming on to the show and for taking the time to be here. Really appreciate it.

Okay, so you cannot call me Anupamaji if I'm calling you Ajit. Agreed. I call you Anupam Malam. Okay, so I have to tell you that I'm not really well versed with motorsports. My knowledge of motorsports comes from the movies, like most of my knowledge about life. Of course, from Asif Kapadia's Sena documentary which was stunning but also more recently from F1. And I want to ask you about something that we saw in F1 right at the end. So Brad Pitt's character Sonny Hayes wins the biggest race of his life, there is euphoria everywhere but he walks away.

He leaves to go participate in the Baha 1000, where they do not know who he is. They ask him, what's your name? And one of the characters says that we don't pay a lot. So he says, it's not about the money. And another character says, then what is it about? So I want to start with that. Ajit, what is racing about for you?

Pushing your limits to appreciate life more. I'd like to elaborate on that. In a racing car, you know, you're pushing your limits, the limits of the car, pushing your own limits. And then, you know, where even a small mistake can either maim you or, you know, you could pay for it with your life. So I guess all the people, not just in people involved with motor sports, adventure sports, you know, I think we appreciate the life a lot more. Because every, I'm sure every race car driver you know the sport looks very glamorous and you know we looked up as gladiators. There is a lot of fear

anxiety you know insecurities when you get into a car but then over the weekend after a few practice sessions qualifying the race day and then you have some good days some bad days. But at the end of it all, you come out and that feeling of being alive is probably what motivates me. So like I told you, I appreciate life a lot more, because anything can happen, you know.

And life is very fragile. It's extremely fragile. So I guess... and it's a form of meditation, you know, in a way, because you don't have It's very fragile. It's extremely fragile. And it's a form of meditation, in a way, because you don't have the luxury of thinking of anything

else.

You're so focused. Like in a race car, you're paying attention to the noise the car engine is making, you're watching out for it, you're watching out for all the data on your car, you're reporting it back to your race engineer who in turn is also updating you as to where you are placed and what's the deficit, how much of a lead you have from the car behind you and so much going on and then as a racing driver

a practice session is different you know you're practicing sometimes you have practice where you're probably the only car you and your teammate are testing your car. Then over a race weekend, your practice sessions, you have all the other competitors. But on a race day, I mean, everything changes. You're competing with one another, dicing for position. So all your attention is on your markers, like your braking points, your apex, where you need to, I mean, your turn in, your exit point. There's so much happening and at the same time, you want to ensure that you drive in a responsible manner,

where you don't hurt yourself or you're not responsible for, you know, a crash that would cost another driver his race. So there's so much more going on and it's a beautiful sport. A lot of it's a team sport. It's wonderful. So for me, it's like it's like therapy. And it's a kind of therapy to get out of your comfort zone, which I feel is very important in life. Every time there comes a time in everyone's life, you get into that comfort zone, and

before you realize it, it's too late. So I think we have to be conscious that we need to get out of our comfort zone as often as you can.

You know, why do you think, Ajit, this is important? I've seen you all morning while we did the photo shoot, right? There is no entourage. I don't even think there's one person here who's given you a cup of water, or a glass of water. You were pulling your own bag in with your clothes, you changed

in a tiny room. Is this what being out of your comfort zone teaches you to be? Because you're a superstar. I've never seen an actor as un, sort of accompanied as you are right

now. But is this not what everybody does. I mean, doing their own things, doing their own laundry. I mean, I come from a very middle class family.

But Ajit, you've been a massive actor for decades.

I will come. It's been 33 years. But let me come. I mean, let me elaborate on that. I come from a middle class family, wonderful parents who were way ahead of their times. And so I guess we were all brought up to do our own things.

I have two siblings, an older brother and a younger brother. We were taught cooking as I was probably seven, eight years old when I remember, I have good memories of me being in the kitchen. But like you say, it's not what everybody does, you know. But yes, when you come into public life, probably it's because of the commitments. You have shoots, you have... or if you're a cricketer, you have practice sessions, test sessions, you have to devote time to the media, you know, then you're a brand ambassador, then you need to fulfill your obligations,

commitments. So, I guess it's probably to save time for that individual that you finally end up with an entourage for people to help you out in your day to day, which I think is not wrong at all. But then, like I said, the reason I choose to stay away from all that is sometimes it can spoil you. So initially you have people who help you with your luggage or everything else, and then over a period of time you start to expect that from everybody around you.

And it has happened to me. And I've been kind of ashamed of it. Like, you know, you so. Yeah, probably that's the reason I now live in Dubai. I'm away from all the. I'm here primarily to because it's

for the sport, for motorsport. You have a lot of circuits here. So in a way, it is helping me because so I'm having to do everything myself, you know, and and I'm loving it, you know, it's I'm loving going back to my childhood and thinking of all the things that we were taught as a kid, and it is coming to use now. So I'm enjoying it, but I don't see any harm in people having help.

Like I say, it saves them time.

Yeah, but like you said, you can also get very spoiled.

You're clearly not spoiled at all. Is this also what sports does for you? No, but believe me, if you had probably met me 20 years ago, you would have probably hated me. It wasn't that I was spoiled. I probably had an entourage of people. And then, you know, it gets difficult. It makes life... the more the people around you, I mean, like you call, you know, like you have a lot of things to deal with. And so, I felt I was wasting a lot of time trying to sort out the day-to-day, you know, squabbles between them, and you know, trying to... So, you kind of seek help, wanting people to help you, but then you later start to realize that... or you want people to look after you, but then over a period of time, you're doing that.

So there's too much of emotional baggage to carry. So I felt it would be better to be as independent as I can be. I mean, there are times when it is impossible, you need help. Of course. There are times that you can do away with it. You can manage by yourself. So yeah, I'm happy.

I'm in a happy space. I'm glad I took the decisions that I had, pursuing motor sports, being away from all that attention. I'm grateful for all the love I received. I'm grateful for the love, for all the motivation that I get from fans, from the movie-going audiences.

But it can be like a drug sometimes, you know.

Fame is a drug.

It can, it can. So I'm very conscious, because of my past experiences, very conscious that I don't take it to person and let that be, you know, keep that, like I have a glass ceiling, you know, so I enjoy that but I don't want to touch it, you know, I don't want to be influenced by it. And like I said, I have moved to Dubai primarily to pursue my motorsports endeavors, because they have a lot of circuits here. There's a lot happening with motorsports here. You have the Dubai Autodrome, you have

the Bahrain circuit close by, the Qatar circuit and Abu Dhabi. So it gives me the opportunity to practice. There are a few teams based here where I can hire the cars and practice as often as I can. So I'm happy to be here.

Do these two careers sort of inform each other in the sense that is there a learning from one that you take to another and vice versa?

They complement each other. See the only thing with motor sports is there are no retakes. Like in acting, I mean, albeit an interview, I stumble on my lines. I mean, we can always go in for another tape or, you know, post-production, editing, you can correct... You can fix it.

You can fix it. Yeah.

Here, there's no fixing you can fix it. Yeah.

Here there's no fixing.

No retakes. And again, both the professions with the film industry, I mean, not just from an actor's perspective, I mean, right from the production assistant to the actors, it's, you know, I mean, it's a very physically, emotionally demanding job. And the same with motorsports. It looks glamorous, right? Both these fields, I mean, people come to a theater and today, I mean, look at the theaters they have, I mean, the kind of facilities given to the audiences you know you can have your refreshments

as you're watching the movie and so many other things.

High luxury.

High luxury and so but you never know what the people go through during the making of the film right I mean there are I mean difficult situations where the dealing with crowd and so so many things the same with motorsports but but luckily I mean with firms you have you have your they're making videos that come out you know so people know but but motorsports until F1 the drive to survive program happening people go under the impression But motorsports, until F1, the Drive to Survive program happened, people were under the impression that motorsports is all glamour. Yeah, it's all these sexy cars. I'm glad. I mean, I think the Liberty Media

have done a great job in reviving the sport by having that web series on television. So now, there is a lot of awareness in regard to motor sports as well. But they're pretty much similar. Pretty much like nobody wants to make a bad film. Same, I mean, so every driver on the circuit wants to win the race. You know, nobody's there to come second, third, fourth. But then, you know, it's brutal. And the times that I work extremely hard,

not me, all the actors, producers, directors, we work extremely hard to make a good film. And some films go on to become blockbusters, and some films don't even manage to survive.

Yeah, that first weekend.

Even two or three shows. Yeah, yeah. And that can be brutal. The same, you practice so much, you work so hard, you do so well in practice, you do very well in qualifying, and then sometimes your race can end before the first corner. So, very similar, very similar.

The only difference, like I told you, was the Nori tapes and motorsports.

You know, you've been asked about the dangers of the sport, right? And there is obvious physical danger. And you've been very Zen-like about it. That, look, I got hurt when I made movies. I've had to have surgeries. I didn't quit acting. So crashes are a part of this. You're testing the limits of the car. You're testing your own limits. There are going to be crashes, but I'm not going to stop racing.

My question is, once you've had that crash and you have had crashes, what do you tell yourself to get back in that car again?

The first thing when I have a crash, I try to understand if you know if I have been hurt you know that's that's my first that's my immediate response is we're not thinking of the car we're not thinking it's first thing that how bad am I hurt or how bad is the car can I restart in fact there is a video of mine on where my car flipped in Valencia during the Southern European Cup and my car

rolled multiple times. And I shared that video with a lot of my friends and I didn't realize that at the end of the video, I mean, I was trying to start the car to... Get back in the vehicle. So the first thing is you, like I said, you want to ensure that you're okay, the car's okay. And the next thing you want to do, because your adrenaline is pumping, I mean, it's really high. And it's like, after that, your next thought is, oh my God, I don't want to have a DNF, I don't want to have a do not finish, you want to finish the race.

So you try to ensure, you try to, you want to be back on the finish the race. That is what goes through my mind. I don't know how it is for the other drivers. And then, yeah, you're worried for your family. It's like, you know, it's not fair on our part to be putting our family through so much of stress. But having said all this, let me remind everybody that there are more people dying on the roads world over than in a racing car. Because the cars are designed primarily keeping the driver's safety in mind. So, you know, so it's very rare that you know you have a fatality on the track or you know

bad injuries that can you know put an end to your racing career. And you're working with hardcore professions, you know, engineers, and there's so much that goes into the sport. And then you have a medical center at the circuit. You have the best brain and neurosurgeons on the circuit. The marshalling is extremely professional.

Everything. So, God forbid, you have an incident on the circuit and within a minute, the medical team is there to assist you. The marshals are there to protect you, to ensure that, you know, the car is cordoned off and the other drivers are warned about the the track or a vehicle being on the track. No one's allowed to touch the driver but the medical team. So they are there, they extricate you from the car and in a very safe manner they first take you to the medical center in the circuit. They assess you, run through the whatever checkups that need and depending on the kind of injury, then if it requires hospitalization, you're being looked after.

Right.

You understand. So it is not as bad as people think. And when you have a crash, unfortunately for me, I've had some terrible crashes. But so are the other drivers. But probably because I'm an actor or, you know, they say, Ajit crashes, another crash. So people think I'm always crashing.

But after none of these crashes, did you ever feel, Okay, it's done. Like, I'm done. No, you've always managed to get back in the car. Or do you have to talk yourself into it?

Again, I'm blessed that so far my injuries have not hasn't been that bad that I have had to miss a practice session or the ways. And so with my film industry, I have undergone 29 surgeries.

Yeah. Right.

So I'm blessed that I've had some very good surgeons and doctors looking after me, who put me back in shape, and I'm grateful to the Almighty, because not many people are so lucky. But like I say, anything can happen. And I'm a hardcore optimist. I've been a hardcore optimist for all my life. And there are two ways you can go about living your life.

You can always complain, crib, or you can just, you know, take it, learn lessons from it, and move on, like a warrior. and move on like a warrior, you know, you move on and every warrior goes to battle knowing that he will not come back home. So, but that doesn't stop him, right? He's fulfilling his duties. That's the way I'd like to go about life. Just be optimistic about it. Believe in the universe. Believe that everything happening is happening for a reason and the reason can only be good.

Correct. As long as you are not trying to disrupt another person's life.

Your intent is good.

Your intent is good, and you wish well for everybody. And there's something I'd like to tell you. Even when I message my friends on WhatsApp or whatever, I make it a point to end the message with, I wish you and your loved ones a beautiful life. I mean, at the end of the day, that is what we all want.

We want our loved ones to have a good life. Maybe that is why people who indulge in crime or whatever it is, if you really go to the roots, why is he doing it? He wants a good life. Sometimes they have the talent, but they don't get the opportunities. So probably it's a frustration. So I always pray. I pray to God saying, please give everybody what they want. There are two reasons for it. One is you fulfill your wishes of giving your family a good life, you know, a comfortable life and then when you have access to wealth and whatever that you have looked for, when

you are economically in a sound place, then you will understand what money can buy and what money cannot buy. Yeah. Right? And then you will understand what money can buy and what money cannot buy. And then you will also understand if you're a giver or a taker. Because I believe there are two kinds of people in the world, givers and takers. So I know a lot of people who say, oh, so-and-so indulges in charity. Yeah, if I had money, I would do the same.

But believe me, when I say this, they probably think that if they had money, they would do the same. But believe me when I say this, they probably think that if they had money they would do, but when money comes to your hand, that's when you realize who you really are. Then it's like, no, I don't want to do it. Why should I work very hard for it? So I pray to God that He fulfills everybody's wishes. Otherwise, you know, sometimes some people at the end of their life, they complain about their karma or fate, and they feel very bitter towards the end of their life,

thinking that if they had wealth, if they had money, you know, it's totally different. Yeah. You know, it can make you a monster. So many things. So it's like a wild horse.

Success is like a wild horse. Anybody can hop onto it. But if you cannot tame it, it will throw you off, waiting for the next one to hop on. So I think in bad times, we're all very careful with the decisions that we make. It is during good times that we need to be even more careful. Because that's when we make all the mistakes that then when the bad time comes, you know,

they all multiply and, you know, hit us hard.

Absolutely. But did the sports help to construct this character of Vajit, this person who can see fame for what it is and can be detached. Has sports helped you to be this person?

Very much, very much. I'm shunning myself for making sure that I have a daughter who's 17, I have a son, he's going to turn 11. They're very much into sports. They love badminton. My son plays football, my daughter loves badminton, music. My daughter is a very good vocalist.

She plays the piano, my son plays the piano, the guitar. He's a good vocalist too. So, I mean, yes, education, schooling, I mean, all that is fine. But I think sports and music, they help you develop your personality even more.

You know, she posted this lovely reel on Instagram where your son is sprinting, like he's in a school race and he's way ahead of everybody else.

And she captioned it, like, Father, like Son... I'm extremely grateful to Shalini. I don't think I'm an easy person to live with, in the sense, like, I beat my sport, beat my films... I like to perform my sons myself. I know I put her through a lot of hard times, but never has she ever stopped me from, you know, she's been very supportive. All she tells me is, as long as you know and she knows I have even even from the time we were seeing each other and I got married and within two years of being married to her I I got back to racing. I participate in the Formula 3 British Formula 3 and then the

European Formula 2 season so she has always been very supportive. In fact, till the kids came, she would be with me, visiting me for my races, being there. And all this could not have been possible without her support, honestly.

So tell me, what does quality family time look like? Like when you're in Chennai, what do you all do together to make up for these absences?

I'm confined to my home most of the time.

Because... Essentially, you're too famous to go out.

It's very difficult. I mean, that is one thing, you know, like fame is like a double-edged sword. It gives you so much, but it also takes away a lot from you. Like you know, I'm grateful to my fans for all the love that they give me, but it is also because of the same fans that I hardly get to be out with my family. And not me, I might talk...

I don't know if I have the right to speak on behalf of the other actors in the world, not just Indian cinema, the world cinema. I think we're all very grateful for all the love that we receive from the media, from the public, from lovers, neutrals, haters, all that. But it also deprives us of a lot of other things. In terms of comfort, a good lifestyle, yes, it gives you a lot. But the things that really matter to you, it takes away all that from you. Like, I can't go to my son's school, drop my son. I've tried doing that. I do it for a day, I do it for the second

day. By the third day, people know that I would be visiting the school at this particular time. And then by the time you know... There have been times that I have been asked to leave in a very polite way.

Because you're creating too much commotion.

Yeah, exactly. And unfortunately, sometimes people think that we are orchestrating this, which is not the truth. I don't think any of us do it orchestrated. It's just that they love us so much that when they see you in person, in flesh and blood, they want to see you, take a picture with you, touch you. That's the flip side of fame. And I can't drive in India. Because every time I try to take my family out and I try to drive the car, you know,

and now some firms are banned, I mean, in the country. So obviously, you know, you notice and then before you realize it, there are 50-60 motorcycles, you know, with not two people on it, four, three or four of them sitting on it trying to get a picture of yours. And they put their life at risk, they're putting the other motorist's life at risk. And there have been times when they have bumped into my car, they have gone on to hit a stationary vehicle, hurt themselves, all this has happened. And sometimes, some of them have the audacity of parking their vehicle in front of my car,

wanting me to either roll down the window for a picture or get out of the car to take a picture, not realizing that there are other people, maybe someone's getting to a hospital or dropping their loved ones at school or having a business meeting or having to be in their office on time or they could lose their job. Nothing. It's just that, no, get down.

And then they expect you to roll down the window. No. Yes, he claims to be a fan. But how do I know? Maybe it's somebody who wants to hurt you. I mean, I have scars on my hand. I've been slashed by a blade.

You know, the media is also divided. Like, you know, you have a lot of fans who want to touch you. So it happened in 2005. It happens very often, you know, you see the scars. So you have a lot of people stretching their arms out. So you shake hands and then I get into the car and I'm bleeding. And then he realized you've been cut.

I don't know if I should say this, but I think people need to know. It was during a shoot, outdoor shoot, and we were staying at this hotel and there was a crowd gathering every day and the owner of the hotel made a request saying that Ajit, we'd like you to, you know, every time you're either on your way to this shoot or when you come back, would you spare some time? We find it difficult to manage the crowd. Can you wave to them, take a few pictures, at least with a few of them so that we can then politely disperse them which I agreed to and it happened and there's one particular day and we had help from

the hotel staff and my staff were there helping and then similarly there are a lot of people stretching the arms out for me to shake hands with and touch them and then before I realized it there was a lot of commotion and one of the security guys had grabbed the boy, barely in his 18 or 19. He had this, you know this blade that the Babas use, Astura they call it, so he'd broken a blade into half and had it in between his hand and somebody noticed and grabbed him by the hand and that guy was not in his senses.

We didn't know if he was drunk or what. He was just like hysteria. So I mean different people show love in different ways. You really don't know what to expect. So for fans to stop your car, expecting you to roll your window down, take a picture, agreed he's a fan but how do I know?

How do we know? so these are things that are never reported. So you are mostly at home then? I'm so confined so coming to the point hardly so either it's at friends places or hotels that have that know where we go very often where they they the security does not let anybody and everybody have access to us. And then I'm traveling most of the time, so whatever little time I have, I've had my son and daughter cry saying that, Papa, why can't you be like the other fathers, and coming

to school, dropping us off.

It gets... It's hard.

It is hard.

And then, there was this incident that happened. It happened during one of the elections. I had gone to cast my vote. A lot of commotion, fans. And there were these fans who were taking pictures, not just me, but all the...

who went, who... who come to that particular booth to cast their votes taking pictures and it so happened that I happened to grab the phone from that boy and that video went very wide I got shafted by a lot of them saying that I was arrogant you know with all kinds of headlines saying that but if one of them from you know from the media had to just pan the camera and let people see what is it that really pissed me off.

There were these boards all over that very clearly said, you know, photography prohibited and violators would be fined. But then what happened was that people never got to see that. So initially when I got to the board, I was politely trying to tell people please you know it's an election boat and please you know they wouldn't listen and then this happened. So I was made to look like the bad guy and that the boy who had violated the law was made to look like the victim. So what happens

then is then he feels he's entitled because you have certain section of media standing up for him. So then he feels that he's entitled to do whatever he wants. So having said this I think moral code of conduct in a public place applies to everybody. To the media also, celebrities or sports personalities, to everybody. I just hope that theaters, you know, the first day, first show, let's say the first couple of days, fans, you know, I see today I have a good life thanks to the fans. We love all that love and all that attention we get, but I think there has to be some kind of a

It needs to be What should I say monitor? You know damn the theater owner spends so much of money In upgrading their theaters, and then you have you know in the name of celebration bursting firecrackers Damaging the seats tearing the screen, asking for, okay, now it's digital.

There was a time when you had the reel and they would stop, I mean, block the screen, demanding that you replay a song once more or a fight sequence one more. If the theater people do not oblige, then they tear the screen. I mean, come on, all this needs to end. But then again, like I said, the media is also divided. One section of the media highlights all this. They highlight it saying, oh, X actor has got a bigger opening than actor

Y. It's a sure stretch. Then what happens? the other fans take that, oh no, the next time we have to prove that we are one step above. We're more passionate. So you are, I mean I say it with, I hope all this is being taken in the right spirit. I'm not trying to put anybody down. But like I say, there's so much happening in Tamil Nadu today because of the stampede that happened. That individual alone is not responsible. We are all responsible for it. And I think even the media has a part to play in this. Today I think we have become a society that's so obsessed with gathering a crowd to show

your clout. All this has to end. I mean, you have, yes, you have crowd that go for a cricket match. You don't see all this happening there. Why is it happening only in theatres? Why is it only happening with celebrities, film personalities? So what happens is it projects the whole film industry world over in a bad light. But I'm sure you'll

agree with me, I mean even Hollywood actors, we don't wish this.

Yeah, of course not.

We don't wish this. We want that love and that's what we work hard for. That is exactly what we work hard for. You know, time away from family, long hours on the sets, hurting us, getting hurt in the process of making a film, going through depression, going through sleepless nights. For what? For the love of the people. But there are ways you can express your love. Don't endanger people. Yeah. And I feel the media should not encourage all this first day, first show, you know, and sometimes, I'm sorry to say this, sometimes a few members of the media, the way they behave at an election, you know, you're casting your vote, you're there with the cameras, but everyone

is scared of them. So the problem here is I think it is a collective failure. It is not just that one individual. It is a collective failure. We are all responsible including my own self. I think we have to stop this obsession with showing our cloud, you know, by gathering...

And with a country of 1.4 billion people, gathering a cloud is a no-brainer.

Yes. Yeah, it's not rocket science.

It is not. I mean, so I think laws are there. Like I said, I believe in democracy, I believe in the judiciary, I believe in so on and let them do their job. For example, everyone is trying to run the country today. And from the time I was a child, all we hear about is rights, rights, rights. Why don't we start talking about duties? I know I'm deviating from the question of yours, but probably if this question is not asked probably I'll never have to.

But I say all this in very good spirit. We all collectively need to contribute for the society, for the country, for the world to be a better place. We talk about political correctness. We talk about social values, social responsibilities. I'm asking you a question from us. Having said all this, is the world a better place today? No, it's worse. So I think we need to go back

to the basics. And when I say we need to go back to the basics and fulfill your responsibility, I mean your obligations towards be a good citizen, go to work, you're a student, study hard. Cinema is entertainment for you, let it be entertainment, let us do our job. Governance, the leaders, the parties have been elected by the people, by us, let them do their job. Everyone's trying to run the country.

You have opposition parties to do their job, to ask questions when a policy has been implemented or when, you know, there is a process, believe in it. And then they have a term, five years, let them complete. Now, within a month of assuming power, you're like, you know, questions are asked, the media on one side is asking questions and you have all these self-anointed moral caretakers of the world. I mean, where are we heading?

Now, I'm sorry, I don't want to come across as a very self-righteous person. I have my flaws. I'm sure if you go on Shalini or my close friend, I have my flaws. So what is it that I'm trying to do? I'm trying to be a better person than I was yesterday. Now that does not absolve me or I'm not saying I may not commit a bad judgment of error in future, but I'm conscious of the fact that my actions do not disrupt another person's. I'm trying to be conscious.

Subconsciously, I don't know. I may have hurt people. But I think it's time that certain sections, again when I say certain sections, also follow this moral code of conduct. Recognize it. And discourage all these kind of activities like you know

bursting firecrackers in theatres and you know all that needs to stop. All that needs to stop and then pitching one actor's fans against the other actor, oh this X actor is number one. You are fueling it. So every fan likes to believe that his favorite actor or actress or sports personality is number one. Now when you pitch one against the other, you are fueling it. So even you

have a part to play. You cannot absorb yourself from all this and say, oh we have nothing to do with it. You cannot do that. You also have a part to play. The people also cannot, I mean, yes, the love, but you also need to... Now, there are places that I would not go if I know that, you know, I would not take my family to a place where I feel like, you know, things get out of control. So, you also have to be very conscious about a lot of things around you. And what is the voting right in our country?

What is the age to cast your vote? 18, right? So which means that at the age of 18, you are mature enough to choose your leadership. So then why is all this, you know, why is it that we have to spoon feed them or, you know, we are forced to have these statutory warnings. Yes. I mean at 18 so why do we need to so I'm saying

it's a survival of the fittest. You're 18 you've been given the right to choose your leadership choose your political party then why is it that all the other things they need to be treated like babies. So I think if you're 18, you're responsible for your own life. And I think the primary responsibility of a government world over is to govern the country. Right? We're expecting them to give us freebies. Where's the money in the treasury? How many, I mean, it's so difficult. I don't envy people in politics at all. In fact, I feel it's a very

tough job. It is. It's a very tough job. So it's so easy to, you know, I don't think any of the politicians anywhere in the world, any government has got a magic wand. But I think we are also as people expecting too much from them.

You have to meet them halfway as citizens.

I mean some, I'm saying there needs to be some kind of a thing to say, okay, you get here, or I get here, then I have the right to expect this from the government. You cannot be a taker all the time, give, give, give, give, you know, you can't, you can't do that. Where is the money in the treasury? So I'm saying, I don't know, I can be shafted off of this interview, but it's time that we all collectively sit down and, you know...

Introspect. Introspect and play your part, do your part. Like a tsunami, it starts off as a small ripple somewhere mid-ocean and then by the time it reaches the land, it's like a huge... Similarly, we start now, each one focus on your career, your whatever, you know, look at...

Ensure that your actions develop the quality of life of people around you. They in turn would do the same and then it will start off as a repellent, maybe three generations from now. The world will be a better place.

It's the… We have to believe that.

No, the world…

I'm so… So, I'm saying let people do their job, let the people in the… let the government do their job, you as a citizen do your job. I think we need to go back to the basics. We need to go back to the basics.

No, I hear you. But I have to ask you something that I'm very curious about. I believe that you only sleep four hours a night. Sometimes less. Last night I slept for just two hours. Okay, how are you such a high functioning individual, only two hours of sleep?

I don't know. I ask myself this question every day. I ask myself this question. But there's so much that I need to think of. I mean, my career, putting a project together, racing. And racing is not a, it's a very expensive sport. I haven't had a sponsor. I mean, absolutely no. There are sponsors coming forward,

but they want to sign me as a brand ambassador and don't want to have anything to do with racing. That I could have done 10 years ago, but I'm doing, I'm seeking sponsorship for a purpose I am NOT seeking sponsorship to enhance my wealth my personal wealth I'm trying to put it back into a sport which I see has a lot of potential yeah yes I am a racing I'm

doing it because I love the sport but I know that the sport has got a lot of potential for drivers, for the brands, for, you know, the manufacturers. There's so much that can happen. I'm knocking on every door that I can for sponsorship. So, that's one part of me, you know. There's so many other things that I'm thinking of. So, but I'm sure everything will fall into place one day, I'm sure.

It will, because you're fully functional on two hours of sleep.

Thank you, thank you. I'm grateful to the universe, I'm grateful to God.

And that too without any makeup.

It's amazing. I don't wear makeup in the films, I don't.

You look incredible. Anyway, I have just a last few questions. One is that you have said that now the way you're going to do the racing is that October to March, which is racing season, you're not going to shoot any films. And then the other months you're going to be an actor. Does that mean that you will be listening to scripts while you're racing or all movie work is only in those months?

No, it's happening. It's happening. I may start filming in a couple of months.

So AK64 might...

It may, probably by Jan we should have an announcement. So that's happening. So this coming year, I may film and race together so yeah so I'm working on both and again like I'm looking forward to the racing season as well because Naren, Karthik and India's first F1 drivers on board and we're doing the Asian Le Mans series so we have races in Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, Dubai.

Looking forward to it. And there are two series, two championships I'm taking part in. One is the Asian Le Mans. The other one is the Crevin Tech 24 Endurance Series. So we're looking at six race weekends with double headers, like two races per weekend.

So that's 12 races beginning first week of December until end of March, sorry, end of Feb. So there's a lot happening on that side. We have some testing coming up again in Barcelona and at Paul Ricard in France. Aditya Patel is on board.

And I must mention, like, you know, you mentioned about the national flag.

Yes, yes, to see you with the national flag is such a moment of pride.

But I would like to tell the audience, drivers from India have done it before. It's just that it did not get noticed. Narendra Karthikeyan, Karun Chandog, Jahandarwala, Khush Mehni, Arjun Mehni. There's so many other drivers who are representing India in the international races. And all of these drivers that I mentioned have got onto the podium. They very proudly displayed the Indian flag. They've had the national anthem play during the podium celebration. But unfortunately, it never got noticed.

So if you ask me what is it that I'm trying to achieve here, I'm trying to primarily fulfill my dream of participating in as many motorsport races as possible. And with the hope that somewhere, you know, people start following the sport and not just when I'm racing, when all of them, we have another couple of drivers like Sai Sanjay racing in the world endurance challenge, you know, in the world endurance racing. We have another boy, Divi, who's racing the Formula 200 GB, Formula 3C. So there are so many other

drivers. Please follow them. Please, please follow them. They're doing so much, so much for the sport.

Well, I have a suggestion. We could just get Apple to remake F1 in India with you as the Brad Pitt character. And, you know, we'll get like Nuslan or Pradeep Ranganathan or somebody to be the younger rac eraser. There you go.

I'm, see, as long as all these things happen.

I've even cast it for you.

No, as long as it happens organically and I'm okay to it. I'm okay. In any which way that you know, we can popularize the sport, like get people to follow the sport, I'd be happy. Not that I'm against cricket. I love cricket. I play cricket. In fact, I think something like in Brazil, like soccer, football is very, very popular. And Formula One, I think pretty much the same conditions in soccer, until Emerson Fittipaldi came onto the scene, went to become a Formula One World Champion and then Nelson Piquet and then Ayutthansa Rao and now Formula One is on par with football so I'm not trying to put any sport down I'm saying

I hope and pray that someday motorsports not I'm not wishing that we ask more popular than cricket. I hope it's as popular as cricket and sponsors also come forward to support the sport in any which way possible. I'd be a very happy person if that happens.

Do you still get as excited though when you step on a film set?

Of course, of course.

I mean, your heart is still...

I'm an accidental actor. Again, accidental actor. I worked with an automobile manufacturing company, a motorcycle manufacturing company as an apprentice, then worked as a merchandiser in a garment export company and then films happened. I asked myself the same question every day, how did I become an actor? It was never on my radar.

33 years later you still...

I still ask myself that question.

And you're a Padma Bhushan now.

I'm again grateful, I'm grateful. So when I look at it, these are things that I never... It was never on my radar. And it just happened. So I don't know what is

it but yes, I put my heart and soul into everything, be it films, you know, I couldn't speak the language fluently, I haven't accented Tamil, I worked on it and I was initially asked to change my name because they felt it was not very felt it was not a very common name to have. And then I insisted, and no, I won't have my name, and I would not want to have any other name. So, a lot of challenges. A lot of challenges, and I overcame everything because I followed the protocol.

Now, even when it comes to racing, I'm probably working as hard as a 19 year old or a 14 year old who wants to make racing a career. So as long as I think you and so for which you need to put the right team together. So as long as you're doing that I think it's it's fine. So I've been very lucky with the directors, producers, the technicians I've worked with, people involved in motorsports. I've all been learning so much from all of them. And I think there's no end to learning.

So as long as you're open to advice from others, you learn. just continue.

You know, I have one last question. Senna is of course your favourite racer and we're sitting in front of the McLaren here, which was the car he raced in. So he said, I'm not designed to come second and third, I'm designed to win.

So is Ajit Kumar also designed to win? See, drivers like Senna, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, they are like very special. You know, they're extremely special. I'm sure the very first time Senna, Sarnak Khan, he must have been really quick. I have never claimed to be a great racing car driver or the best racing car driver to have represented India, but I'm hardworking and I'm willing to follow the protocol. I'm willing to pursue it the way it is meant to be. Right? So I hope I get to the highest level in terms

of my own abilities and I can make all of you proud. That's all I can hope for. But believe me when I say this, I'm doing things the way it is meant to be done, no shortcuts, I'm not seeking any entitlement here, no. And like even my next film, I approach every film like it was my first film. Let's say if I've had a blockbuster, I put that aside and I tell my directors. There are times when directors or producers approach me for my date and say, Sir, we want to do this project 100 days.

And I tell them one thing very clearly, I said, look, I know it takes about 100 to 120 days to put a film. I'm giving you 100, not giving you 100 days, I'm giving you the last 33 years of my life and I'm placing it in your hands. It's not 100 days. It's all that I have done the last 33 years, I'm placing it in your arms. You don't have to take me to the next level.

Don't set me back. And let us all grow together. This is what I tell every director, every producer, every time I start mining. So if I come with a blockbuster, I tell them, look, that's over, done. My first film, your first film, irrespective of what your earlier film. That's how I approach films and that is how I wish to approach my racing as well. Yes, we had some great races,

we had some podiums, had some terrible crashes, DNFs, but now I put everything aside, my next race is my first race. And I guess I like to live my life that way, live every day like

it's a brand new day. It's a clean slate.

Yes, and then keep the lessons in mind, lessons that we learn on the way, keep them, you know, at the back of your head and look forward to a good future.

Soldier on.

Soldier, gladiator, soldier a warrior, whatever you want.

Well, please know that we'll all be cheering for you, including those of us who know very little about the sport, but it's so inspiring to just see you do this and to take this shot.

Thank you, Anupama, and I hope I request everybody to take whatever I have said in good spirits. I'm not perfect, I have my flaws, but I hope all this is taken in good spirits and we all sit down and introspect and then look forward to another day, a new day. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Hello, I'm Ajit and you're watching me on Hollywood Reporter India.