 Heera, Ajith's then girlfriend, played a major role in shaping Ajith's career.After the success of his films in 1996, the following year saw a series of five classical successes, one such being Amitabh Bachchan's Tamil production "Ullaasam", with Maheswari, in which he was paid a salary of for the first time.Ajith returned in 1998 with another big, successful project in Saran's "Kaadhal Mannan", an action romantic comedy, setting the foundation for an expanding fan base.