Vijay's first breakthrough was in 1996 with Vikraman's romance film, "Poove Unakkaga". His subsequent films, Vasanth's "Nerrukku Ner" (1997) and Fazil's "Kadhalukku Mariyadhai" (1997), were critically and commercially successful. His performance in the latter won him the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. "Thulladha Manamum Thullum" (1999) earned him a Tamil Nadu state Award.