At that time, director Bala roped her in for a leading role in Sethu alongside Vikram, which she signed after Keerthi Reddy and Rajshri had dropped out.

The film opened in December 1999 at a single noon show at a suburban theatre but built up through word-of-mouth publicity and ran for over one hundred days at several cinema halls across Chennai, becoming a critical and commercial success.

[4] After Sethu's success, Abitha was flooded with offers but chose to complete her studies and finish her PG in Sociology from Annamalai University.

Other films in the period, such as Pirantha Naal with Prakash Raj, Kashmir with Abhinay and Kandhavel with Murali were not completed and indefinitely shelved.

[6][7][8] In 2005, she got another breakthrough and signed on to play the lead role in Kannamma scripted by Karunanidhi, but to do so she unceremoniously opted out of another film titled Ullakadathal.