You walk into Kurien & Associates to prepare the financial report for your firm. The receptionist shows you the chartered accountant’s cabin. Inside, you meet this poised young woman running her fingers through the ledger. Dressed in a crisp saree, hair pulled back in a neat ponytail, her aura screams she knows what she is doing. She looks up and gestures for you to take a seat. As you settle in, your eyes fall on the nameplate: Diana Mariam Kurien, Senior Chartered Accountant.This could very well have been a true story, had Sathyan Anthikad not convinced Lady Superstar to act in his film. Ever wondered what your favorite Tamil stars would do if the silver screen had never called? Well, you don’t have to strain your brain, because the answers are already out. From Rajinikanth to Nayanthara, the answers are more fascinating than any script! Take a look.
Rajinikanth
Rajinikanth was a bus conductor before becoming an actor. But did you know he had done many odd jobs before that? “Everyone knows I was a bus conductor. But before that, I used to be an office boy, then a coolie, then a carpenter. Only then did I become a conductor. I did all that because I was born into a poor family. I knew poverty not by seeing or hearing about it but by experiencing it. I had an immense drive to become rich. I have never feared anything in my life even when I was young,” Rajinikanth said during a public event in Singapore in 1992. He was working as a bus conductor at Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) on Route 10A. If not in the entertainment industry, he would have still stayed in public service roles!
Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is, in fact, living his dream now! No, we are not talking about cinema, but motorsport events. He was born to drive! The traces of racing go back to his childhood. “I was exposed to motorsports since the age of six. My father, P. S. Mani, worked for a pharmaceutical company called Biddle Sawyer, and one of its directors, Vimal Shah, used to drive for Vijay Mallya’s team in the national races. So, when the Sholavaram races would happen, all the cars would come down and be parked at our home premises in Alwarpet—it was the whole motley bunch of radical racers, Fiats, Dolphins, etc., and then all the single-seaters would be parked there as well,” Ajith Kumar earlier told The Indian Express. After returning from school, Ajith and his brother would sit with the mechanics and help them clean parts of the car. Motorsports became a part of his life even before he knew he was passionate about it.In fact, in his own words, he is an ‘accidental actor’ and started working in films to fuel his passion for racing. Talking to India Today earlier, he said, “Acting was never on my radar. I am an accidental actor. After school, I started working in an auto manufacturing company for about six months. I was 18 when I started racing motorcycles. I remember my father said that it is a very expensive sport and we cannot support you, but you must find your way.” And cinema was the way!
Suriya
Not everyone born into a film family wants to become an actor. Case in point: Suriya! He didn’t dream of becoming an actor. He had his own set of reservations and insecurities. But being an actor’s son, it was only natural that people started approaching him from a young age. “I did not want to follow my father’s [Sivakumar] footsteps in the film industry. I got a job in a garment factory, with my first month’s salary being Rs 736, which I got after 18 hours of work every day. I still remember the weight of the white envelope that had that money,” Suriya told The Hindu. He was doing extremely well. He quit the job when he found it monotonous and joined the movies. If not an actor, he would perhaps have been in the garment industry or perhaps social service, which is still part of his journey.
Nayanthara
Beyond calling the shots, Nayanthara is good with numbers—not just at the box office, but in its true literal sense. The superstar, whose former name is Diana Mariam Kurien, originally wanted to become a chartered accountant. After graduating in English literature, she hoped to pursue chartered accountancy. But that’s when she received modeling gigs, and veteran Malayalam filmmaker Sathyan Anthikad convinced her to join films. Diana became Nayanthara and claimed her throne! If the ‘Manasinakkare’ director had not come across the magazine featuring Nayanthara, she would have been a chartered accountant, and undoubtedly the best at it!
R. Madhavan
R. Madhavan, the forever crush of millions of women, would have become an army officer if he hadn’t landed in the movie business. During his academic years, he was an active member of the National Cadet Corps (NCC). He was even Maharashtra’s Best NCC Cadet. He was reportedly selected as one of just eight NCC cadets from India to travel to England, where he trained with the British Army, the Royal Navy, and the Royal Air Force. Acting was never the plan, but joining the Indian Army was. If not an actor, Maddy would instead have been breaking enemy lines on the battlefield!A bus conductor. A racer. A chartered accountant. A soldier. A businessman. These would have been the ‘ordinary’ lives of some of your ‘extraordinary’ stars, had cinema not called them. And yet some, like Ajith Kumar, are still chasing their true calling! But accident or destiny, we are glad that these extraordinary stars made it to cinema! And for those who still have unfinished dreams waiting in the wings, we would like to quote Shah Rukh Khan: Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho to puri kainath usse tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai (They say if you truly desire something from the heart, the entire universe conspires to help you get it)!
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