Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Why have Ajith and Suriya never worked with Shankar?

 

Why have Ajith and Suriya never worked with Shankar?

Set aagadhu

That's the best word to describe incompatibility

Some Directors have excellent compatibility with their actors

Dhanush - Vetrimaaran

Vijay - Attlee

Sivaji - AP Nagarajan

Rajinikanth - SP Muthuraman

Nagesh - K Balachander

Aravind Swamy - Mani Ratnam

Suriya - Hari

Vikram - Shankar

Kamal & Simbu - Themselves 😁 (GVM is nearest to the director who can get Simbu to do stuff)

Some Actors like Karthi , SK are super flexible and gel with everyone

Others like Ajith are Notoriously tough to gel with any director

Shankar is a very taxing director

He demands things. He demands physique alteration, he demands fixed schedules, he demands ABSOLUTELY STAUNCH ADHERENCE TO TIMELINES

Prashanth had to sit at home for 22 days , day and night , day and night to be free for a single 3 day shoot at a location for a song in Jeans l

Ajith insists on flexibility

Time off during shoots for car races

Time off for vacation

Time off for some drone exhibition in Dubai

Time off to spend time with his brother who came from US for a month

Impossible for them to match their synergies

Shankar can't just allow Ajith to plan his own schedul and Ajith will never be micromanaged

Shankar of course IS NOW NOT THE SAME. He has not TASTED A SINGLE ROARING SUCCESS since Endhiran (2010), nearly 16 years ago

He has mellowed down considerably

Even so at his peak (1996–2010) even Rajinikanth and Kamal HAD TO DO WHAT THEY WERE TOLD

Ajith is a guy who stalked off when an Assistant criticized his acting a bit too much WHEN HE WAS A NEWBIE off a MANI RATNAM PRODUCTION (Nerukku Ner)

Imagine now when he is THALA 😁😁😁

It would have been sheer hara kiri to put them in the same set when Shankar was at his prime

Today - NEITHER ARE AT THEIR PRIME

Ajith is 90% retired now and Shankar should have retired 10 years ago after I failed to make an impression


Suriya and Shankar is just a mismatch

Shankar had no project for Suriya

Shankar prefered Vikram and his dedication

Vikram and Shankar - they have perfect wavelength

They did discuss a project whose name I forget now during Corona period

However after Indian 3 and Game Changer , that Project is unlikely now

Suriya has found a temporary lease of life after Karuppu. HE WONT DARE RISK IT BY WORKING WITH SHANKAR I HOPE