In an exclusive chat with India Today, Tamil actor Ajith Kumar spoke about receiving Padma Bhushan, how he chanced upon acting and also opened up about his retirement plans. Speaking about his retirement plans, he said, "You never know! It's not about me planning when to retire, I could be forced into retirement. I don't want to take anything for granted. People complaining about life. To wake up and feel alive itself is a blessing. I am not being philosophical here. I have been through surgeries and injuries. I have friends and family who are cancer survivors. We understand how valuable life is - just to be alive. I want to make use of every second of my life - want to make the most of it."
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00:00It's been days since our viral interview of superstar Ajit, but one of the biggest talking points has been Ajit's message to his peer Vijay, who of course has taken the political plunge.
00:10So I asked him specifically about whether he thinks it's a good step to take for actors to step into politics and whether he himself would consider it.
00:19So here's an excerpt of that exclusive one-hour conversation that I had with Ajit.
00:24So you're into motorsport, actor of course. There are a lot of peers in your industry who have also taken the other's jump, which is politics.
00:35What do you think of that? Is that something you would ever consider?
00:39No, personally I'm not politically ambitious. And as far as my peers' interest in politics is concerned, it's of course their personal choice.
00:53I wish them well. And it's their belief. And the best thing about democracy is that people finally get to choose their leadership.
01:08So I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish not just my peers, anybody who wishes to get into politics, believing that they can make a change, I wish them well.
01:26I wish them well. It's their personal choice.
01:28Do you think it's a natural transition? It's a big responsibility, you know, being in politics, representing people.
01:34So you think it's a natural transition of sorts? You have this huge fan base, which then converts into political support.
01:41Okay, let me, let me put it this way, you know, like, for example, people watching films, it's easy for them to be watching a film and then to judge and say,
01:51you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, give suggestions as to how, you know, what kind of policies could be implemented or what's good for the country.
02:19But it's only if you are in the battlefield, you really know what the issues are, why is it difficult to, how easy or difficult it is to implement policies.
02:37Because, you know, we are a country of 1.4 billion people, different religions, castes, languages.
02:48So it's very difficult to please all the people all the time.
02:55And believe me when I say this, when I was at the Rastrapati Bhavan, you know, right from entering Rastrapati Bhavan, following the protocol, going through the security,
03:13I could feel the weight of that responsibility that leaders have to experience every day in their life.
03:24And trust me, I don't envy them.
03:26I mean, it's a tough, it's a very tough job.
03:32It's a lesson learned.
03:34You know, I've always been apolitical.
03:38You know, I've tried to be very consciously.
03:40And I think, you know, that's the way I would like to be, be it state politics or, you know, center, national politics.
03:52I'll definitely be very conscious in passing my judgments, even among my close circle, you know, because I could feel that at the Rastrapati Bhavan.
04:07I could really feel it.