This is an old story that is doing the rounds. The only thing I cannot figure out is that there was one Vishwa who was Ajith's Manager. As Ajith and I had a direct link and PRO's were not the only route, I cannot having any Vishwa around. Any read on what it is worth it.
THALA AJITH is a legend today. He is easily among the biggest South Indian Stars and can easily dominate a 150–200 Crore Worldwide Share on his own.
Yet Ajith himself was once a huge fan of Shah Rukh Khan and loved the Actors movies especially DDLJ and KKHH released in the 1990s. He badly wanted to act in a remake of two SRK films- Dil To Pagal Hai and Baadshah but sadly things did not pan out.
IT was A.R Rahman who was responsible for Ajith acting in the movie Asoka. Rahman had composed music for Mani Ratnams Dil Se where Santosh Sivan was a Cinematographer. During the Song Chaiyya Chaiyya, Sivan and SRK talked to each other and Sivan pitched the idea of making a film about Ashoka. Rahman was there. In the end Rahman did not have the dates for Sivan and Sivan would go with Anu Malik but during the shoot of Kandukondein Kandukondein- Rahman who was supervising some things got talking with Ajith and mentioned the possible film about Ashoka.
Ajith was keen to act with SRK and asked his then Manager - Viswa to make it happen. Originally Suniel Shetty was being considered to play the role of Sushima but his dates were not very flexible. Sivan was delighted to rope in Ajith - a budding star of South Indian Cinema especially because Ajith did not quote a fee
SRK nodded when Sivan told him about Ajith. To SRK it was not a big role and he did not think twice about it.
SHOOTING
It was at Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh that the Shooting was scheduled for 8 days and was a scene for the Palace Intrigues.
Unlike these days - there was no Hotel and few Caravans (It was 2000). The Actors stayed in Indore and drove to Maheshwar for the shooting and returned back in the evening.
Ajith had arrived at the Shooting spot at 7:00 AM when he saw a few locals riding a modified bike. Ajith was having a 2–3 day stubble and was wearing ordinary clothes. He did not have a platoon of bodyguards. In fact very few people on the set knew him as anything but some person from the film team (The main team would arrive at 8:00 AM).
Ajith loved Bikes and he observed that these people were trying the wheelie and failing. He got irritated and proceeded to go to them and show them how it was done. These Locals had no clue who Ajith was and thought he was a set boy or spot boy and allowed him to ride the bike. Ajith soon showed them how to do a wheelie and they were impressed.
One of the youngsters - a Young man named Pratap Shingwekar who was from the Stuntmans association even told the Actor - that he could become a very important stuntman if he could do certain stunts with the bikes in some films. Ajith was amused.
At 8:30 AM - it was announced that the shooting was cancelled due to technical issues and would commence the following day. However SRK had already driven down to the shooting spot and when he saw Ajith riding with the locals - although he vaguely recognized Ajith - he did not think a budding south indian actor would be roughly dressed and play around with spot boys and locals and did not give a second look. The only person who knew who Ajith was was Ajiths driver (The Rental Car driver). When SRK asked one of the Managers - he said in Hindi “Koi Madraas se Shooting ke liya aaya hain” (Some guy has come for the shoot from Madras) and SRK assumed he was some kind of Asst Director or Technician to Sivan.
Once Ajith heard that the shoot was cancelled - he had to go back and he asked Pratap if he could drive the bike back to Indore to get the feel for it. Had Pratap known who he was he would have handed the bike in a second but Pratap had no clue who Ajith was except maybe a spot boy or some technician and hesitated . Ajith offered him a Cheque and Pratap who distrusted cheques finally shrugged and agreed.
Ajith drove on his bike racing on the highway passing SRKs car and racing ahead. SRK was affronted and ordered his driver to pass Ajith. SRK honked his horn a few times until Ajith stopped. SRK without getting out drove past Ajith and began to yell at him from the Window basically saying “How dare you pass me by? Suppose my driver had swerved and hit someone or we had been in an accident? You know who i am? I will make sure you are tossed out from the set” (Assumed Conversation. Basically SRK was ranting and raving)
SRK however cooled down a minute later and apologized. It was the delay of the shoot that had caused him to get annoyed. He was due to leave for London in a few days. All the while Ajith had not spoken a word. SRK offered Ajith a drink of Mineral Water and Ajith shook his head. All the while the two had communicated with gestures and SRK even left after telling Ajith in english “I showered a lot of choice hindi words. Luckily i dont think you understand Hindi…or even English”
However the minute SRK left - Ajith was fuming with Anger. He had been minding his own business when the Star had come in his way and had basically yelled at him for nothing. Ajith decided at that very minute to leave for home and cancel the shooting no matter what happened.
Santosh Sivan Pacifies the Crew
It was when SRK returned to the hotel, had cooled down and was replete with Cigarettes (It is rumoured he had forgotten his smokes which was why he was so upset earlier) when he found out that the person he had yelled at had Indeed been Actor Ajith.
He also found out that Ajith could speak flawless English and very good Hindi which means he must have understood every word that SRK had thrown at him.
He related everything to Sivan and Sivan decided to Pacify Ajith but this was where SRK proved he was a Gentleman.
SRK apologizes Openly
Even as Ajith was deciding to pack his bags, SRK knocked on his door and came along with Sivan and four others. He openly apologized without any ryders. He revealed why he had been so angry and Ajith whose initial reaction was to rebut any show of friendliness thawed. Its impossible to be angry with a big actor who humbles himself by apologizing directly.
Ajith and SRK had dinner together and it was believed to be SRK who advised him not to act in Bollywood movies but to Focus on Tamil Cinema. While they would not be great friends - they would always maintain and keep in touch. SRK would invite Ajith to his Box during IPL matches in Chennai (Which Ajith often turned down due to Crowd issues) and Ajith would act in a remake of Main Hoon Naa called Aegan. During the shooting of Vivegam - SRK congratulated Ajith on his muscles.
What Happened next?
Ajith became a huge star in Tamil nadu and became an A+ Lister by 2013
Asoka ended up becoming a huge flop and SRK incurred Rs. 5.70 Crores worth of Losses.
Ajith was paid Rs. 20 Lakhs for Asoka even though he had initially agreed not to take a fee because the Producer insisted.
Pratap Shingwekar sold his Bike to Ajith because the Actor loved the Bike. He rode the Bike from Indore to Chennai. Shingwekar later became a Stuntman and settled down in Dubai. He was one of the stuntmen for the movie Deewane Hua Pagal (Or something like that) in 2005.
Due Credits- https://balusboxoffice.quora.com/When-SRK-met-Ajith-Kumar
