1990–1998 Ajith began his acting career through a one-scene appearance as a school child in
En Veedu En Kanavar (1990). Through the recommendation of
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, whose son,
S. P. Charan, was a classmate of his, he was cast in his first lead role in the Telugu romantic drama
Prema Pusthakam (1993), which remains his only Telugu film to date. However, the shoot of the film was stalled soon after production began, following the death of the film's director, Gollapudi Srinivas. As a result, his first major theatrical release was the Tamil romantic drama
Amaravathy (1993), which Ajith had signed after being recommended to director
Selvaa by Balasubrahmanyam, who had seen parts of
Prema Pusthakam prior to its delay. As the film went into post-production, Ajith was bed-ridden due to a racing injury while training for an amateur motor race. He underwent three major surgeries resulting in bed rest for one and a half years. As a result, his voice in the film was dubbed by actor
Vikram.
Aasai also earned him his first nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. He later played a college student in
Kalloori Vaasal, co-starring
Prashanth and
Pooja Bhatt. The film paired him opposite
Devayani, with
Heera Rajgopal playing a supporting role. In 1997, Ajith appeared in five consecutive failures. During the same period, he had entered into the film distribution business and had experienced losses as a result. Describing the period as a "cruel time", Ajith also continued to have chronic back injuries and several of his other film commitments had become delayed. A notable project among the five films was
Amitabh Bachchan's Tamil production
Ullaasam (1997), in which he was paid a high salary of for the first time. Ajith's next films
Aval Varuvala and
Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen also became successes, with the former pairing him with
Simran for the first time and the latter featuring him in a guest role alongside
Karthik. Except for
Uyirodu Uyiraga, which performed poorly, his other three films released in 1998 were successful hits.
1999–2008 Ajith started 1999 with
Ramesh Khanna's
Thodarum and
Sundar C's romantic drama
Unnaithedi opposite
Malavika.
S. J. Suryah's thriller
Vaalee, which portrayed Ajith in a dual role for the first time in his career, became one of his biggest hits at that time. Furthermore, Ajith's portrayal of the brothers was also praised, with critics claiming that the film was an "instant classic", with Ajith showing that he is a "talented actor". The two following roles in the drama films
Anandha Poongatre and
Nee Varuvai Ena also brought Ajith plaudits for his portrayals, with the latter film featuring him in a guest role alongside
Parthiban. His 25th and final film before the new millennium was
Amarkkalam, directed by Saran and featuring
Shalini, whom he married shortly after the film.
Amarkkalam told the story of a neglected child who grew up and failed to show feelings of love and affection, becoming a gangster in the process, with Ajith's depiction of his rogue character appreciated by critics. His first film of the new millennium,
Mugavaree, won him commercial and critical praise. The film revolved around the life of a struggling music composer who faces sacrifices to proceed in his career. The film featured dual endings, one with Ajith succeeding in his career, the other with Ajith dejected. Ajith's performance was yet again praised with critics from
Rediff, claiming that "Ajith is the real winner", drawing an allusion with the film's script, whilst adding that "it is amazing to see how Ajith has grown as an actor. He brilliantly portrays the vulnerable and sad Sridhar". He also appeared in
A. R. Rahman's 2000 multi-starrer
Kandukondain Kandukondain, directed by
Rajiv Menon. The film featured Ajith alongside prominent actors
Mammooty and
Abbas and actresses
Tabu and
Aishwarya Rai. In a similar role to his previous film, Ajith played a struggling film director facing an oscillating relationship with Tabu, with the pair being unanimously praised for their roles. After giving six straight hits in 1999, and having had
Mugavaree and
Kandukondain Kandukondain in 2000 as successes, Ajith had an unsuccessful film,
Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven, co-starring Simran. In 2001, Ajith appeared in three commercially successful films.
Dheena, co-starring
Laila and
Suresh Gopi, released at
Pongal and marked the beginning of a new image of Ajith as an action hero who would appeal to the masses. He earned the nickname, "Thala" (Leader), from this film. In the same year, he was offered a role in
Nandhaa, which he rejected and was later replaced by
Suriya, the eldest son of actor
Sivakumar. His next was the much-hyped thriller
Citizen, portraying him in ten get-ups and it became a commercial success at the box office. A role in the family drama
Poovellam Un Vasam followed opposite
Jyothika and was a critical and commercial success, earning him the
Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award and his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. The year ended off with a brief appearance in
Santosh Sivan's Hindi project
Asoka, in which Ajith played as one of the
antagonist against
Shah Rukh Khan, which did not perform well. In 2002, Ajith appeared in three films, the first two,
Red and
Raja being box office disappointments, the former further building up his image as an action hero. The third film
Villain, directed by
K. S. Ravikumar, portrayed Ajith in a dual role, one as a mentally disabled person and another as a caring brother. The film emerged as a commercial success and earned him his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. From 2003 through 2005, Ajith appeared in fewer films due to his career in motor racing becoming more prominent. 2003 saw the release of his long-delayed
Ennai Thalatta Varuvala and the police drama
Anjaneya, both failing commercially. In that period, three successful films, namely
Saamy,
Kaakha Kaakha and
Ghajini, were turned away by the actor due to various reasons. His next film,
Jana with
Sneha, also became a big failure, with the Saran film
Attagasam, being his only hit in the period. The film saw Ajith portray a dual role, with a song "Thala Deepavali", penned to promote his action image. In 2005, the failure of the
Linguswamy film
Ji, despite garnering positive reviews and taking a strong opening, saw Ajith take a sabbatical from acting to re-work his image. Of the five films released between 2003 and 2005, his only box office hit was
Attagasam. During 2006, Ajith returned from his hiatus by appearing in
P. Vasu's
Paramasivan for which he had lost twenty kilograms to portray the lead role. The film enjoyed a moderate success, scoring over Vijay's
Aathi, which also released in the same week, at the box office. Critics from
The Hindu stated that Ajith looked "trim and taut" in the film with "only his eyes seeming to have lost some of its sparkle", following the major weight loss. Furthermore, for
Paramasivan and his two other projects in 2006, Ajith sported long hair, which was being grown for
Bala's project
Naan Kadavul, which Ajith eventually opted out of. Similarly, his next film,
AVM Productions's,
Thirupathi, directed by
Perarasu performed above average business at the box office, despite garnering poor reviews, with
Rediff critics citing that the film is "anything but sensible", but that Ajith "salvages the situation with a spirited performance". Ajith summed up a successful comeback by the release of his long-delayed action drama
Varalaru, which went on to become his third biggest success after
Vaalee and
Villain. The
K. S. Ravikumar film co-starring
Asin and
Kanika, which was in production for nearly two years, portrayed Ajith in a triple role with one of them being a classical
Bharatanatyam dancer, with his portrayal of his three roles being critically praised. Moreover, the film earned Ajith his third Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. In 2007, media reports hinted that the actor would do a project with
Shankar. Ajith's first release in 2007,
Aalwar, became a debacle at the box office, with his previous film still continuing to run in theatres even after
Aalwar had stopped its brief theatrical run.
Kireedam, a remake of the 1989
National Award-winning
Malayalam film of the same name, was released to positive reviews, with the film also becoming a moderate success. Ajith then starred in
Billa, a remake of the 1980
Rajinikanth-starrer
of the same name. The
Vishnuvardhan-directorial fetched critical praise for Ajith, becoming a trend-setter for stylish art direction and cinematography in India.
Billa, yet again, featured Ajith in a dual role, one of a notorious don whilst the other played an ordinary person who had to act as the don, following the former's death.
Billa also earned him his sixth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. After
Billa, Ajith appeared in the film,
Ayngaran International's production
Aegan, directed by choreographer
Raju Sundaram. The film, a remake of the 2004
Hindi comedy
Main Hoon Na, received mixed reviews and was a failure at the box office.
2010–2019 Following a year of production, Ajith's
Aasal, released in February 2010, taking a grand opening at the box office. The film, which also featured Ajith in a dual role, also failed at the box office despite bigger expectations. After a second foray into motor racing, Ajith signed a film directed by
Venkat Prabhu, titled
Mankatha, which notably became his 50th project. The film featured him in a full-length negative role as Vinayak Mahadevan, a suspended police officer with a lust for money. His performance and his decision to portray a character with negative shade, breaking the stereotype hero image in Tamil cinema, were lauded by critics, with reviewers from
Sify and
Rediff terming the film as an "out and out Ajith film" that worked "only because of Ajith". Heaping praise on the actor's performance, the former noted that he "rocks as the man with ice in his veins as the mean and diabolic cop" and that he played "the emotionless bad man, to perfection", Eventually, the film performed poorly at the box office. He starred in
Vishnuvardhan's
Arrambam, alongside
Arya,
Nayantara and
Taapsee Pannu, which was released on 31 October, and earned positive reviews from both critics and audience.
Arrambam earned him his eighth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. His next film was
Veeram, directed by
Siva and co-starring
Tamannaah, which was released on
Pongal 2014, which also earned positive reviews from critics. Ajith's next film was
Yennai Arindhaal, with
Gautham Vasudev Menon as director. Ajith's performance as a cop was widely praised with a critic calling it "Ajith's best since
Kandukondain Kandukondain". Both
Veeram and
Yennai Arindhaal earned him his ninth and tenth nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. Ajith worked with Siva again in
Vedalam (2015), in which critics praised his performance. His latest project is
Vivegam which received mixed-to-negative reviews with critics citing illogical scenes and average screenplay. His next release,
Viswasam, was released on Pongal festival of 2019. Ajith later starred in
Nerkonda Paarvai, remake of the Hindi film,
Pink (2016), which was released in the same year.
2022–present In 2022, Ajith collaborated with Vinoth, again, for
Valimai. It was written and directed by Vinoth. It released to mixed reviews from both the critics and audience, alike. The following year in 2023, they collaborated again for the bank heist thriller,
Thunivu. It was produced by
Boney Kapoor and it was the third collaboration of the team consisting of Ajith, Boney Kapoor, H. Vinoth, and Nirav Shah.
Ghibran composed the music and background score for the film. His 2025 films are
Vidaamuyarchi directed by
Magizh Thirumeni and
Good Bad Ugly directed by
Adhik Ravichandran. ==Accolades==