raight hits in 1999 and having had Mugavare

e and Kandukondain Kandukondain in 2000 as success, Aith had a flop Unnai Kodu E
nnai Tharuven
co-starring Simran.[18][24]
In 2001, Ajith appeared in 3 commercially successful Tamil lm's script, whilst a
dding that "it is amazing to see how Ajith has grown as an actor.
He brilliantly portrays the vulnerable and sad Sridhar".[20] He also appeared in
A. R.
Rahman's 2000 musical Kandukondain Kandukondain directed by Rajiv Menon. The blo
ckbuster
featured Ajith alongside prominent actors Mammooty and Abbas and actresses Aishw
arya Rai,
Tabu and Srividya.[21] In a similar role to his previous film, Ajith played a st
ruggling fi
lm director facing an oscillating relationship with Tabu, with the pair being un
animously p
raised for their roles.[22][23] After giving 6 stfilms. Dheena, A. R. Murugadoss
's d
ebut film co-starring Laila Mehdin and Suresh Gopi, indirectly marked the beginn
ing of a new i
mage of Ajith, that of an action hero that would appeal to the masses.[25] Furth
ermore, from t
he successful film, Ajith's nickname in the film, Thala,[26] Tamil for Leader, b
ecame a new id
entity for the actor amongst his fans.[27] In the same year, he was offered a ro
le in Nandha, w
hich he rejected.[28] His next was the much-hyped thriller, Citizen, portraying
Ajith in ten di
fferent get-ups and it became a commercial success at the box office, though bei
ng labelled a di
sappointment from critics.[29] A role in the family drama, Poovellam Un Vasam fo
llowed opposite
Jyothika and was a success commercially and critically earning a Special Best Ac
tor Award from t
he Tamil Nadu State.[30] The year ended off with an appearance in Santosh Sivan'
s Hindi project,
Asoka, in which Ajith appeared in a brief negative role alongside Shah Rukh Kha
n, which flopped
.[31] 2002 saw Ajith appear in three films, the first two; Red[32] and Raja[33]
being box office
disappointments, the former further building up his image as an action hero. Th
e third film, Villa
in, in which Ajith appeared in dual roles, one as a mentally ill handicap,