Inside Tamil icon Ajith Kumar epic reunion with music maestro Anirudh Ravichander in Abu Dhabi: 'I do racing for the soul'

Dubai: Trust Ajith Kumar to turn a Abu Dhabi 24H endurance race at the Yas Marina Circuit earlier this week into a glorious reunion. What caught our eye was how music composer Anirudh Ravichander dropped in to meet the actor during the race weekend.

Photos of the Vidaamuyarchi collaborators together, shared by Ajith’s manager, quickly made their way online, delighting fans who are used to seeing the duo together on film sets, not pit lanes.

Ajith, who was competing in the endurance race, drew crowds at the venue—but what stood out wasn’t the scale of the attention so much as how he handled it.

Between race commitments, he paused for photographs with fans in an orderly manner, using a fan-cam system that later shared images digitally. No frenzy, no drama—just a system that worked.

Anirudh, meanwhile, wasn’t there for a fleeting photo-op. He was seen tracking the race closely and spending time with Ajith away from the spotlight, the kind of interaction that suggested familiarity rather than formality.

There was no sense of a “public moment” being manufactured—just two long-time collaborators catching up in an unlikely setting.

The Abu Dhabi appearance has also prompted us to revisit an earlier Gulf News interview with the Tamil superstar, conducted after the 24H Dubai 2025 race, where his team finished on the podium.

Asked about success, Ajith had offered a line that now feels particularly apt: “Success is like a wild horse. If you can’t tame it, it will throw you off.”

In that conversation, he was clear that racing isn’t a vanity pursuit. “I do racing for the soul. It soothes me,” he said, describing motorsports as a counterweight to cinema rather than an extension of it.

He also pointed out the unforgiving nature of the sport: “There are no retakes here. One moment of distraction can change everything.”

On the film front, Ajith and Anirudh last collaborated on Vidaamuyarchi, whose music found a strong audience. Anirudh is also expected to compose for AK62, directed by Adhik Ravichandran, which marks Ajith’s return to the screen after a phase dominated less by film announcements and more by racing calendars.