As a part of Ajith`s 46th Birthday celebration by IndiaGlitz, traces the journey of Ajith to the star value and fan base he is having today after facing so many ups and downs. This will be a three part series.

After debuting in Tamil as a hero with Amravathi`, Ajith had a mixed bag of moderate hits and flops in his first couple of years. Mani Ratnam`s production venture Aasai` (1995) was the first super hit film of Ajith that made people take notice of him as a hero in the making. .

The next year, Ajith had two super hits Vanmathi` and Kadhal Kottai`, both directed by Ahathiyan. The latter which was a National award winning blockbuster registered Ajith as a household name among Tamil people.

The year that followed was entirely different. Ajith acted in five films in 1997 and all of them were box office duds. This was only the first of many such falls` Ajith would face in his entire career, only to reemerge like a phoenix.

Debutant director Saran`s Kadhal Mannan` redeemed Ajith`s market standing in the next year. The refreshing romance-action flick established Ajith as a charming actor and created a fan base for him among young girls.

In the following year, another new director S.J.Suryah`ss Vaali` which was Ajith`s first dual role film, established him as an actor who could perform challenging roles. In the same year, Amarkkalam` gave him a complete action make over, and the film`s success established Ajith as an action hero which is vital for a hero to emerge as a star.

After giving a super hit action film, Ajith acted in a family oriented film Mughavaree` and the multi-starrer breezy romance film Kandukondein Kandukondein`. Both the films were moderately successful and fetched good name for Ajith the actor. There were few hits and flops in between these films.

The next year Ajith returned to action mode with Dheena` the debut film of A.R.Murugadoss. The film can be easily termed as the milestone in Ajith`s career not only because it was a super hit but also because it multiplied his fanbase across the state and made him a top league star along with Vijay and the duo are till date placed after Rajinikanth in terms of Box office opening.

Another action film Citizen` followed. The film was acclaimed for its novel story and Ajith`s dedication in sporting different getups. It was from this film. Ajith started looking chubby with a protruding belly. Not only the haters but also critics started pointing it out as a matter of concern. In the same year, Ajith again acted in a family oriented film Poovellam Un Vaasam` and the film became a hit.

The following year Red` and Raja` gave room to the same criticism about Ajith`s physique and they were also colossal flops. The same year`s Diwali release Villain` in which Ajith played dual roles for the second time after Vaali` became a super hit and that was the only massive box office success for Ajith in the next four years. He was also embroiled in controversy for claiming that he will be the "next Superstar" and was out of scene for quite some time as he diverted his focus on his passion motor racing.

In the period between 2003 and 2006 Ajith endured a series of flops except Attagasam` directed by Ajith`s lucky mascot Saran and Paramasivam directed by veteran P.Vasu which were moderate hits. This was the dullest patch of Ajith`s career to the extent that he faced the risk of losing his position as a top league star. The next generation stars like Silambarasan, Arya and Dhanush were fast emerging towards the star status.

What happened next? Read the Part 2 of this article to be updated will be updated soon. .