Every successful person undergoes an exactly opposite dark phase in the career at least once. It is all about how they bounce back time and again that defines their personality and potentiality. Actor Vijay, the Thalapathy of Kollywood, has gone through such bad phases many times in his career and has given strong comebacks to seal his superstardom. Such comebacks have defined Vijay as a person too.

Poove Unakkaaga

This was during the very initial stage of Vijay's cinema life. Vijay was being promoted as a hero for youngsters. Though films like Rasigan, Deva, Selva had decent runs, there was no serious escalation. That is when the opportunity for 'Poove Unakkaaga' came Vijay's way in 1996 where he would be working with a director other than his father. Vikraman was a real angel in Vijay's life. Offering such a heavy role to a 22-year-old youngster is not easy but Vikraman believed in Vijay. Poove Unakkaaga was Vijay's first big hit and it gave him plenty of family audience which he is retaining till date.

Kushi

When Endrendrum Kadhal, Nenjinile, Minsara Kanna, and Kannukkul Nilavu failed, it was 4 flops in a row and Vijay had to sit and rework on his selection of scripts. SJ Suryah came with a script called 'Kushi' and his lively narration impressed Vijay. "I narrated the whole script of Kushi to Vijay sir. While narrating, there was no reaction in his face and I felt that he didn't like the script. But once I completed, he said let's do it. During the narration, he would smile at certain moments and those were the exact moments that received huge applause in theatres" says SJ Suryah. Kushi is one of the biggest blockbusters in Vijay's career and he entered the new millennium with a real bang.

Thirumalai

As always, Vijay was met with a darker phase once again in his career. When Shahjahan, Thamizhan, Vaseegara, and Pudhiya Geethai didn't do well while Youth and Bagavathi were moderate hits, Vijay didn't look forward to just a blockbuster but a complete changeover to his graph. During the shooting of Pudhiya Geethai, Vijay heard a script from a youngster named Ramana but he didn't give any confirmation at that time. Later, Vijay himself called Ramana and expressed his desire to work in his script. A huge success called 'Thirumalai' was made in 2003 which not only give Vijay the much-needed success but also changed his looks and gave him everything that is essential for a Mass hero. 

Pokkiri

With continuous hits like Ghilli, Madhurey, Thiruppachi, and Sivakasi, Vijay was on a roll. He had become a Mass hero by then and his fan following was growing at an unimaginable pace. His much expected 2006 Pongal release 'Aathi' failed at the box office and Vijay was criticized again for his script selection. He had to undergo a lot of reviewing before finalizing his next project. He heard many scripts but was satisfied with none. Vijay finally selected Prabhudeva as the director of his next film titled 'Pokkiri'. The combination of two energetic people made Pokkiri a celebration for fans as well as the general audience. It was a huge blockbuster in the year 2007 and was a perfect Pongal treat. Though there was only one year gap between Aathi and Pokkiri, this victory meant a lot to Vijay at that time. 

Kaavalan

After the success of Pokkiri, Vijay entered the most difficult phase of his career till date. His films bombed continuously at the box office. Though he had already faced such failures in the past, this was a new experience. The technology was growing very fast and everyone started reviewing and trolling movies and actors with the help of SMS in mobile phones. Unfortunately, Vijay was the first prey to this new culture among the Tamil Cinema audience.

His movies like Azhagiya Tamil Magan, Kuruvi, Villu, and Sura helped the fans of his rivals to target him aggressively through forward messages. Since he is Vijay, he overcame this phase too. He called the very reliable director Siddique who had earlier given him a blockbuster called 'Friends' to make a soft love story for him and 'Kaavalan' was made. It was a completely different Vijay with a soft tone and the audience loved seeing him that way after a very long time. Kaavalan stabilized Vijay's career after which many epic blockbusters followed.