Thala Ajith’s ‘Day Of Learning’ At MIT Chennai

Thala Ajith has developed a massive fan following across Tamil Nadu by doing mainstream commercial films. Off-screen, he is the polar opposite – he's reticent and extremely private. He has varied interests and pursues hobbies like photography, automobile racing, pistol shooting, aero modelling, and his culinary skills are already well-known. In fact, many fans prefer the off-screen Ajith to the onscreen one.

With the Tamil industry in a limbo, Ajith is yet to begin shooting for his next film, Viswasam directed by Siva. On March 24th, he visited the Aeronautical Department lab at the renowned Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) in Chrompet, Chennai. A student posted a photo of Ajith with a bunch of students on his social media and it became viral in no time. Ajith was keen on learning more about the quadcopter project the students at MIT were working on.

Prithiviraj Yayathirajan, the student who posted the group photo told us more about Ajith's 'day of learning'. "Ajith sir came to our aeronautical department at around 7 AM and left only at 3 AM. He was there at the lab for more than 19 hours! The news of his presence was first leaked thanks to a WhatsApp group message by a student," he says.

He adds that, the actor had come to acquire some expert knowledge on how to assemble RC (remote controlled) planes. "He was assisted by a group of our staffs and M.E students. It seems he was very eager and inquisitive to learn, and was extremely interactive. I also heard that Ajith sir was keen to know more about the drones which were sent from our college to assist in the rescue operation following the recent Kurangani forest fire."

Though Ajith wasn't keen on taking photos, he relented when a delivery boy from Swiggy who delivered his dinner requested him for one. Prithiviraj and his friends too waited for hours to take a photo with the star. "We finally met Ajith sir at 3 AM. He was visibly very tired but agreed for a group picture and shook all our hands. When I told him that we had been waiting for more than 12 hours to meet him, he replied that he had been waiting for 26 years to see all of us. We were all completely floored by his simplicity and humility. When he finally left, I could see a lot of RC planes in his car," he adds.