AR Murugadoss

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AR Murugadas
Murugadoss.jpg
Murugadas in 2009
Born
Murugadas Arunachalam

(1974-09-25) 25 September 1974 (age 49)
Occupations
Years active2001–present
Spouse
Ramya
(m. 2005)
Children2
Relatives Dileepan (brother)

Murugadas Arunachalam (born 25 September 1974), known professionally as AR Murugadas, [1] [2] is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. [3] [4] He is best known for directing action films mainly on social issues. In addition, he has worked in Telugu films and Hindi films. Murugadoss won the Filmfare Award for Best Director for his 2014 Tamil action drama Kaththi .

Contents

Murugadoss' first break in the film industry was as an assistant director of Ratchagan (1997). He then worked with S. J. Surya for the film Kushi (2000) before directing his first film, the Ajith starrer Dheena (2001). His first Bollywood film was Ghajini (2008), a Hindi remake of his Tamil film of the same name. It became the first Bollywood film to gross over 100 crore (US$13 million) domestically. [5] In 2012, he directed the action thriller Thuppakki , starring Vijay, which became the second Tamil film to gross 100 crore at the domestic box office alone. [6] He worked with Vijay again with the box office hits Kaththi and Sarkar (2018).

Personal life

Murugadoss was born in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu. [7] The initials "AR" refer to his father's name Arunachalam and were added after Murugadoss signed his first film, Dheena , in 2001. [2] Murugadoss currently resides in Virugambakkam, Chennai. [8] Murugadoss had his schooling at the Government Higher Secondary School [2] and studied BA in Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirapalli.[ citation needed ] His brother, Dileepan made his acting debut with Vathikuchi , which is Murugadoss' production venture.[ citation needed ]

Career

Murugadoss with Aamir Khan in 2009 Murugadoss With Amir Khan.jpg
Murugadoss with Aamir Khan in 2009

During his college days, Murugadoss was active in cultural events, particularly in mimicry and drawing. [2] He subsequently became a cinephile watching up to seven films a week in his hometown and started writing jokes as well. After Ananda Vikatan published them, Murugadoss began to think of becoming a story writer. [2] At Bharathidasan University he started to write sketch comedies and acted in them. [2] After college he tried to join the Madras Film Institute, but was rejected. Nevertheless, Murugadoss stayed in Chennai in multiple functions. First he became an assistant writer of P. Kalaimani and wrote dialogues for the Tamil film Madurai Meenakshi. He became assistant director of Ratchagan (1997) for half of the film and continued as assistant script director for the Telugu film Kalusukundam Ra. [2] Murugadoss then worked with S. J. Surya for the film Kushi .

In 2003, he contemplated making a film titled Varathan with Vikram in the lead role for producer Oscar Ravichandran, but later moved on to other projects. [9]

S. J. Suryah recommended Murugadoss to Ajith Kumar for directing his debut film, Dheena . His next films were Ramana , Ghajini , and Stalin . His fifth film was Ghajini , which was a Hindi remake of his same-titled 2005 film and marked his Bollywood debut. It released on 25 December 2008 and became the first Bollywood film to gross over 100 crore domestically. [5] His next Tamil film 7aum Arivu , was released on Diwali 2011. Murugadoss signed a deal with Fox Star Studios to produce two Tamil films. [10]

In 2012, he directed the action thriller Thuppakki , starring Vijay and produced by S. Dhanu released on Diwali 2012 to mostly positive reviews and became the second Tamil film to enter the 100 crore club domestically alone [11] after Enthiran . Thuppakki collected over 180 crores end of its run as reported by producer. He also directed the Hindi remake of the film, Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty . [12] In 2014, he was the writer and producer for the fantasy film Maan Karate starring Sivakarthikeyan which was directed by his former assistant Thirukumaran.

In 2014, he directed the action drama Kaththi starring Vijay and produced by Lyca Productions released on Diwali 2014 and emerged as one of the top-grossing films in Kollywood for 2014, collecting an estimated 131 crores. In 2016, he directed Akira starring Sonakshi Sinha. It is a remake of Tamil film Mouna Guru . Then, he directed Spyder starring Mahesh Babu and Rakul Preet Singh. [13] [14] He joined with Vijay once again for the movie Sarkar which is produced by Sun Pictures Kalanithi Maran which released on 6 November 2018 for the Diwali. It released in over 3000 screens around the world. [15] The next, his film Darbar starring Rajinikanth was released on 9 January 2020. [16]

Filmography

Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released
As director, writer and producer
YearFilmDirectorWriterProducerNotes
1993 Madurai Meenakshi NoYesNoDialogues only
1997 Poochudava NoYesNoDialogues only
2001 Dheena YesYesNoDirector Debut
2002 Ramanaa YesYesNo
2005 Ghajini YesYesNo
2006 Stalin YesYesNoTelugu film
2008 Ghajini YesYesNoHindi film; Remake of Ghajini (2005)
2011 Engaeyum Eppothum NoNoYes
7am Arivu YesYesNo
2012 Thuppakki YesYesNo
2013 Vathikuchi NoNoYes
Raja Rani NoNoYes
2014 Maan Karate NoYesYes
Jai Ho NoYesNoHindi film; Remake of Stalin (2006)
Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty YesYesNoHindi film; Remake of Thuppakki
Kaththi YesYesNo
2015 10 Endrathukulla NoNoYes
2016 Akira YesScreenplayYesHindi film; Remake of Mouna Guru
2017 Rangoon NoNoYes
Spyder YesYesNoTamil- Telugu bilingual film
2018 Sarkar YesYesNo
2020 Darbar YesYesNo
2022 Raangi NoStoryNo
2023 August 16 1947 NoNoYes
TBA SK23 YesYesNo
As actor

Awards

FilmAwardCategoryResultRef.
Ramanaa Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Best Dialogue Writer Won [17]
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Best Film Won [18]
Ghajini 53rd Filmfare Awards South Best Director – Tamil Nominated [19]
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Best Film Won [20]
Ghajini Stardust Awards Hottest New FilmmakerWon [21]
54th Filmfare Awards Best Director Nominated [22]
Producers Guild Film Awards Best Director Won [23]
10th IIFA Awards Best Director Nominated [24]
7aum Arivu 59th Filmfare Awards South Best Director Nominated [25]
Thuppakki The Chennai Times Film Awards Best DirectorNominated [26]
Best ScreenplayNominated
4th Edison Awards Best DirectorNominated [27]
Best ScreenplayNominated
60th Filmfare Awards South Best Director Nominated [28]
2nd SIIMA Awards Best DirectorNominated [29]
7th Vijay Awards Favourite Director Won [30]
Best Director Nominated
Raja Rani Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards The Most Popular FilmWon [31]
8th Vijay Awards Favourite FilmNominated [32]
3rd SIIMA Awards Best FilmNominated [33]
Kaththi 62nd Filmfare Awards South Best Director Won [34]
1st IIFA Utsavam Best DirectorNominated [35]
4th SIIMA Awards Nominated [36]
9th Vijay Awards Favourite Director Won [37]
Best Story, Screenplay Writer Nominated
Sarkar 66th Filmfare Awards South Best Director Nominated [38]
8th SIIMA Awards Best DirectorNominated [39]
Darbar 10th SIIMA Awards Nominated

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