One of composer Yuvan Shankar Raja's earliest movies was the Suriya, Jyotika starrer Poovellam Kettuppar (1999), which was a big musical hit at that time. Yuvan back then was just establishing his foot in the Tamil film industry, and the crowd-favourite songs had made a mark registering the composer's name with the Tamil film audience. 

However according to Yuvan, since Poovellam Kettuppar did not do well at the box-office, film offers were not coming his way as expected. It was at this time that star actor Ajith Kumar visited Yuvan at his residence, and told the then youngster that he would be doing Ajith's Dheena (2001). 

"Ajith himself came to my home saying that he wanted to meet me. 'I'm giving you a film, you have to do your best' is what he said. After Poovellam Kettupaar I had no movies for a long time...I think the film didn't run well at that time. So this is when Dheena came to me. Following Dheena, Thulluvadho Ilamai (another musical hit by Yuvan) also came to me. So from there it just has been going (on an upward graph)"  - Yuvan Shankar Raja in a recent interview

Dheena is one of those Yuvan albums that stands the test of time, even after 24 years. While the movie in itself is looked at for several fond memories, such as the film that marked the debut of director AR Murugadoss, the film that gave Ajith the moniker 'Thala' (which he no longer uses), and the film that has one of Yuvan Shankar Raja's best songs, Yuvan has now added to it by declaring it as a film that gave him his push forward in the movies.