CHENNAI: Fans of Ajith Kumar gathered at select theatres across the city on September 6 for a special screening of the trailer of his upcoming documentary, Gladiators: In Pursuit of Challenges.
The trailer premiered on the big screen at 6.40 pm, with special screenings held across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The 3.40-minute trailer begins with Ajith speaking about the vast horizons of motorsport and describing endurance racing as one of its most challenging forms.
Shalini Ajith Kumar, who appears on screen for the first time in nearly 20 years for the documentary, says, “Everyone knows Ajith as an actor, but those who are close to him know that he is someone who chases his dreams and follows his passion. He didn’t return to racing just to win a trophy. He came back for those few seconds of that ‘nothing is impossible’ moment."
The trailer concludes with Ajith saying, “I love this sport,” before raising the Indian flag in front of the crowd. The actor's racing journey is set to get a bigger spotlight with Gladiators, which focuses on his passion for motorsport.
Directed by AL Vijay, the documentary looks at a side of Ajith beyond cinema, tracing his journey as a racer and his experiences in the world of motorsport.
Unlike a regular trailer release that would first appear online, the makers chose to screen it in theatres, giving fans a chance to catch the first glimpse of the documentary on the big screen.
The documentary also features footage connected to Ajith’s racing career.
His racing journey has included endurance racing and international motorsport events, adding another dimension to his career beyond acting.
At Kamala Theatre in Vadapalani, the response was far bigger than initially anticipated.
According to theatre owner Ganesh, the trailer was originally planned to be screened twice once in English and once in Tamil.
However, the bookings for the special premiere closed within 100 seconds. With around 3,000 people turning up at the theatre, which has an auditorium that can accommodate about 600 people, the trailer was eventually screened five times to accommodate the crowds.
“Ajith sir’s opening is always celebrated hugely by Tamil people, but this response was something else. We initially planned to screen the trailer only twice, once in English and once in Tamil. But the bookings closed in 100 seconds. In a 600-seat auditorium, around 3,000 people came. So we had to rotate the audience and screen it five times,” says Ganesh.
He adds that AL Vijay, the director of the documentary, along with Ajith’s manager Suresh Chandra, were also present to witness the audience response.
“The response was huge. People are waiting to see him. This is a documentary, and for a documentary to have a trailer and receive this kind of response is something I have never seen in my 50 years of experience. That is Ajith and the stardom and respect he has among his fans,” he says.
The theatre also played 10 songs from Ajith’s films between the trailer screenings to keep the audience entertained.
“I had to give additional content to the people who came all the way to watch a three-minute trailer for Ajith sir. So I put together cuts and edits from his various movies and played his songs in between the screenings to entertain the people and do justice to those who had come to see him,” says Ganesh.
Gladiators: In Pursuit of Challenges is produced by Shalini Ajith Kumar under Golden Trophy Film Production, with music by GV Prakash Kumar. AL Vijay has earlier worked with Ajith in Kireedam.