Whether or not the phoenix bird exists in real, is still questioned by many. But the myth that says a phoenix bird rises from ashes, is very much a representation of Thala Ajith's life and film career, where he has faced not one or two but multiple setbacks and failures, but has risen from the fall, returning with a bang and offering a perfect treat for his fans to rejoice. Why is Ajith the phoenix of Tamil Cinema? Let's take a look at the graph of the actor.

Ajith's first success came with Aasai(1995), three years after his debut as a hero, and this wasn't your regular hero dominated movie, but was a movie that had more scope for the heroine and the villain. Nevertheless, it was a movie that opened up new avenues for the actor, as he scored commercial success with Vaanmathi, and reunited with the same director Agathiyan again for the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Kaadhal Kottai (1996), which made people take him as a serious actor, who can emote and be expressive and likable on screen.

And then followed several double hero subjects like Ullasam, Pagaivan etc, which were completely bringing down the image he earned with the success of Kaadhal Kottai, as they were not the right followups for such a classic hit. Luckily, Ajith got Saran, who gifted him Kaadhal Mannan, which started a resurrection of sorts, as Ajith followed it up with decent hits at regular intervals like Aval Varuvala, Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen etc, which established him as a perfect family hero.  

1999-2001 was a glorious period in Ajith's career as he scored hits, Superhits and Blockbusters essaying a variety of roles, as he turned a smiling assassin in Vaali, a goon in Amarkkalam, an aspiring director in Kandukondain Kandukondain, a passionate aspiring music director in Mugavaree, and the mass hero in Dheena and a vigilante in Citizen, and this was the phase that transformed Ajith from class to a mass hero. 

A number of flops followed, but Ajith made a stunning return with Villain (2002), which, despite the fact that it was released alongside two other biggies Ramana and Bhagavathi went on to become a superhit outing for the actor. However, what followed next was Anjaneya and Jana, which weren't worth the hype or worthy successors for Villain, and ended disastrous. Attagasam (2004), though was a success, could not match the Saran - Ajith duo's previous blockbuster Amarkkalam. Yet again, a series of disasters followed, and Ajith had underwent a huge physical transformation, losing lots of weight for Naan Kadavul by Bala, and unfortunately, Ajith was out of the project, and the films that released during the phase like Ji,Paramasivan, Thiruppathi fizzled out, and his much expected Varalaru, was facing huge delays, financial issues and lot of troubles.

And then came the stunning comeback with Varalaru (2006) released after much confusions, and being released alongside more than 5 movies, emerged the winner of the Diwali 2006 Box office race, and firmly established Ajith's box office pull. 2007 gave him a makeover of a style icon with Billa, which remains the star's most stylish film till date, and the blockbuster result of the movie lead to all style and no substance movies like Aegan and Aasal, again pulling him down. But then Venkat Prabhu gave a perfect gift for Thala fans and a stunning comeback, and that with the golden jubilee flick of the actor - Mankatha. The movie had Thala displaying a whole new level of villainy as Vinayak Mahadev, and became a blockbuster.

And again, Thala followed it up with Billa 2, which was a disaster. Arrambam was a decent success, and then entered Siva, who gave Thala Ajith some of the biggest blockbusters in his career like Vedhalam and this year's Viswasam(which was after the Vivegam debacle). Ajith's career has been a roller coaster ride filled with maximum number of failures, but every time, he made it a point to return with something bigger, that could eclipse the failures he had scored. This man braved a life threatening  accident and returned to films, endures a lot of pains to entertain his fans, with his breathtaking, risky stunts that could cost his life, and despite failures, has made the maximum comebacks in life and in his film career, and its only befitting that he's called the phoenix bird of Tamil cinema.

And Vairamuthu had penned these lines Erindhu pona saambalil irundhu ezhundhu parakkum Phoenix pola Meendum meendum parappen unakkenna?! voiced by Ajith himself, in Attagasam. Indeed, the man is the personification of confidence and yes, he is a real phoenix!