10 films that were turning points in Thala Ajith's career

Every actor has their share of films that change their course of their careers, for better or worse. What separates a superstar from a star is not just the ability to deliver hits and bounce back from failures, but their talent at shaping their career by picking films that help them reach new heights of stardom. With Ajith Kumar turning 50 today, here are the 10 films that were turning points in namma Thala's career and made him the superstar that he is today...

Though he had debuted as a lead in 1993 with Amaravathi, Ajith wasn't considered a bankable hero until Aasai. In fact, between these two films, he acted in films like Paasamalargal, Pavithra and Rajavin Parvaiyile (with Vijay) in characters that could be termed supporting roles. But as the loveable, intelligent and quick-tempered Jeeva in Aasai, Ajith displaced Arvind Swami as the heartthrob of girls.

While Aasai made Ajith a household name, the credit to the film's success equally belonged to his co-star Prakash Raj, who played the antagonist. But with Kadhal Kottai, Ajith showed that he could single-handedly carry a movie. In an author-backed role, Ajith came up with a sensitive performance as Suriya, a young man in a long-distance relationship with a girl who he hasn't seen!

Fresh off the success of Kadhal Kottai, Ajith, who had become a sought-after hero, signed half-a-dozen films. But as fate would have it, five of those films — Nesam, Raasi, Ullasam, Pagaivan and Rettai Jadai Vayasu — flopped, and in the same year. For any other hero, his career would have been over. But with Kaadhal Mannan, directed by Saran, with whom he'd deliver a couple more hits, Thala showed that he was also a Box-Office Mannan.

After Kaadhal Mannan, Ajith had successes like Aval Varuvala and Unnai Thedi, but he seemed to be getting typecast in romantic roles. Enter SJ Suryah, who provided him with his first dual role, that also showed Ajith's penchant for roles with grey shades. If he was charming as the loverboy Shiva, the star showed his mettle as an actor as Deva, a speech-and-hearing-challenged but brilliant ad filmmaker who lusts after his brother's wife. It also fetched him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

He had proved he could play romantic roles and also performance-oriented role. He had proved that he was a star. Could he make that leap and prove that he was also a mass hero? Of course! In AR Murugadoss's debut film, Dheena, Ajith played the titular role of a gangster who has to save his lover from his own brother, another powerful gangster. And he aced it! Ajith Kumar, the romantic hero, had transformed into Thala, the mass hero!

After Dheena, Ajith focused on movies that had both action and sentiment. He also tested waters in Bollywood. But this was also period in which for every Villain and Varalaalru, there was a Jana and a Ji. And his contemporaries like Vijay, Suriya and Vikram were rewriting box office records with films like Ghilli, Ghajini and Anniyan. Was Ajith's stardom fading? Thala shut down his critics and bounced back with Billa. Stylish, sexy and sinful, as David Billa, he showed everyone that he could send audiences into raptures with a mere walk!

Can Ajith make his personal landmark — his 50th film — a truly memorable one? That was the question on everyone's mind when he embarked on Mankatha. And like a phoenix, Thala rose from the ashes of flops like Aegan and Aasal, and delivered a monster success with Mankatha. Once again, he went grey with aplomb, playing disgraced Mumbai cop Vinayak Mahadevan, who pulls off one of the daring heists ever! After Thala da, fans had one more phrase to celebrate — Mankatha da!

All through his career, despite winning fans across all centres, Ajith had been associated with suave roles in films that were largely set in a city. Could he pull of a rustic role for once? We got an answer to that question with Veeram, the first of his four collaborations with director Siva. As Vinayagam, a rough-and-tough villager who has to save the entire family of his lover from an evil guy while trying to abstain from violence, Ajith proved that he was a darling of the B and C centres as well! And while taking on his biggest rival, who also had a release the same day!

He had delivered superhits. He had rewritten box-office records. He had shown that he was an 'all area Ghilli' like his onscreen rival Vijay. But can he survive a face-off with the one-and-only Superstar Rajinikanth? Placing his trust in Siva once again — despite their combo having delievered an underwhelming Vivegam — Ajith came out on tops in the biggest box-office clash in recent times, with an action-packed family melodrama that had the coveted family audience turning up in theatres multiple times.

When it was announced that Ajith would be playing the role played by Amitabh Bachchan played in Pink, everyone was wondering why would a mass hero pick such a project, especially after delivering his biggest blockbuster ever! But Ajith showed everyone what true starpower is — it is not about hogging the limelight, but being confident about your stardom and sharing it, and using it to spread a much-needed message. It was a bold move that showed that Thala is someone who wouldn't hesitate to take the road that superstars rarely travel in.