వాడుకరి:Sesha soumya/ప్రయోగశాల

Acting career

Early career

Kumar was born in Secunderabad,India. He did not speak Tamil as a child, and mastered it only after becoming an actor. He dropped out of Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School in 1986 before completing his higher secondary. During his childhood days he was fan of M. G. Ramachandran, Amitabh Bachchan & Rajesh Khanna. During his teens he became fan of Rajnikanth & Kamal Haasan. At 18, Kumar had to take up a job to support his career in racing. Joining as an apprentice, he rose to be a merchandiser with a garment export company, doing small-time press ads and TV commercials occasionally. He had put a lot of money into racing and would borrow tyres from his friends who used to help when the chains wore out as there was no money in racing at that time. Following an accident, several business agencies pushed him into modelling for advertisements in print media. He had to make a choice between films and racing, and as the films were happening and generating him some money, he began concentrating on it. He debuted in En Veedu En Kanavar (1990) in a minor role as a school student.

Aged 20, Kumar was selected by Telugu FILM productions, Lakshmi Productions, to star in their film; however shooting was stalled soon after filming began, following the death of the film's director. Kumar then started his film career at the age of 21 appearing in the low budget Telugu film, Prema Pustakam in 1992, which remains his last direct Telugu film to date. His first Tamil film Amaravathi, directed by then newcomer Selva, was a moderate success and his voice was rendered by fellow actor, Vikram. After the release and while training for an amateur motor race, Kumar suffered a fall, injuring his back and underwent three major surgeries resulting in a bed rest for one and a half years. Following the injury in 1993, Kumar played a small role in the Arvind Swamy starrer, Paasamalargal, before appearing in a supporting lead role in the family drama, Pavithra, which featured him as an ailing patient shown maternal affection from Raadhika.