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.
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