During 2006, Ajith returned from his hiatus by appearing in P. Vasu's "Paramasivan" for which he had lost twenty kilograms to portray the lead role. The film enjoyed a moderate success, scoring over Vijay's "Aathi", which also released in the same week, at the box office. Critics from The Hindu stated that Ajith looked "trim and taut" in the film with "only his eyes seeming to have lost some of its sparkle", following the major weight loss. Furthermore, for "Paramasivan" and his two other projects in 2006, Ajith sported long hair, which was being grown for Bala's project "Naan Kadavul", which Ajith eventually opted out of. Similarly, his next film, AVM Productions's, "Thirupathi", directed by Perarasu performed above average business at the box office, despite garnering poor reviews, with Rediff critics citing that the film is "anything but sensible", but that Ajith "salvages the situation with a spirited performance". Ajith summed up a successful comeback by the release of his long-delayed film "Varalaru", which went on to become his first biggest success. The K. S. Ravikumar film co-starring Asin, portrayed Ajith in three roles, including that of a classical dancer, with his portrayals being critically praised. Moreover, the film earned Ajith his third Filmfare Best Actor Award. In 2007, media reports hinted that the actor would do a project with Shankar. Ajith's first release in 2007, "Aalwar", became a debacle at the box office, with his previous film still continuing to run in theatres even after "Aalwar" had stopped its brief theatrical run. "Kireedam", a remake of the 1989 National Award winning Malayalam film of the same name, was released to positive reviews, with the film also becoming a moderate success. During the shooting of the film, Ajith developed a further spinal injury, a recurrence of his problem earlier in his career.