Ajit, who ran away from home to Mumbai after selling his college books, started his career in films in the 1940s. Luck did not favour him in the beginning. He began with the 1946 movie "Shahe Misra", acting opposite Geeta Bose, and also did films such as "Sikander" (with Van Mala), "Hatimtai" (1947), "Aap Beeti" (with Khursheed), "Sone Ki Chidiya" (with Leela Kumari), "Dholak" (with Meena Shori) and "Chanda Ki Chandni" (with Monica Desai) as leading hero, but flopped. He did the most films (15) with Nalini Jaywant. Ajit switched over to play the villain. His first movie as a villain was "Suraj", followed by films such as "Zanjeer" and "Yaadon Ki Baaraat".