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.
AR Murugadas | |
|---|---|
 Murugadas in 2009 | |
| Born | Murugadas Arunachalam 25 September 1974 Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Spouse |
Ramya (m. 2005) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Dileepan (brother) |
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$12 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 (2014) and Sarkar (2018).
Personal life
editMurugadoss 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
edit
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 the 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 the 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 was released in over 3000 screens around the world.[15] The next, his film Darbar starring Rajinikanth was released on 9 January 2020.[16]
Filmography
edit| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
As director
edit| Year | Film | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Dheena | Tamil | |
| 2002 | Ramanaa | ||
| 2005 | Ghajini | ||
| 2006 | Stalin | Telugu | |
| 2008 | Ghajini | Hindi | Remake of Ghajini (2005) |
| 2011 | 7 Aum Arivu | Tamil | cameo appearance as director in the Interview |
| 2012 | Thuppakki | cameo appearance in song "Google Google" | |
| 2014 | |||
| Jai Ho | Hindi | Remake of Stalin (2006) | |
| Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty | Hindi | Remake of Thuppakki (2012) | |
| Kaththi | Tamil | cameo appearance as common man | |
| 2016 | Akira | Hindi | Also producer Remake of Mouna Guru (2011) |
| 2017 | Spyder | Tamil-Telugu | bilingual film |
| 2018 | Sarkar | Tamil | cameo appearance as in song "Oru Viral Puratchi" |
| 2020 | Darbar | ||
| 2025 | Sikandar † | Hindi | |
| SK23 † | Tamil | ||
| 2025 | Vijay Kanthaswamy | Hindi | Remake of Kanthaswamy (2009) |
As producer, writer and actor
editThis is a list of films that AR Murugadoss worked for other directors
| Year | Film | Credited as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Writer | Actor | |||
| 1993 | Madurai Meenakshi | No | Dialogues | No | |
| 1997 | Poochudava | No | Dialogues | Yes | |
| 2011 | Engaeyum Eppothum | Yes | No | No | |
| 2013 | Vathikuchi | Yes | No | No | |
| Raja Rani | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2014 | Maan Karate | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cameo in the song "Open the Tasmac" |
| 2015 | Isai | No | No | Yes | Cameo |
| 10 Endrathukulla | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2017 | Rangoon | Yes | No | No | |
| 2018 | NOTA | No | No | Yes | Cameo |
| 2022 | Raangi | No | Story | No | |
| 2023 | August 16 1947 | Yes | No | No | |
Awards
editReferences
edit- ^ N Madhavan (22 December 2014). "Murugadoss: Tamil cinema's golden messenger". Forbes India. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Murugadoss — Man with the midas touch". SouthScope. Archived from the original on 1 November 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ "Aamir's next director speaks". Rediff. 18 April 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ Seenivasan, Meera (22 February 2008). "Murugadoss upbeat over Mumbai entry". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 November 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ a b "Journey of the 100-Crore Bollywood Film - Forbes India Blog". Forbes India. Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
- ^ "'Thuppakki' Box Office Collection Crosses ₹100 Crore Mark: Vijay's Biggest Grosser Ever". International Business Times. 27 November 2012.
- ^ "I could not even buy a cup of tea for my father with my money: Murugadoss". Priya Gupta, TNN. The Times of India. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
- ^ "A.R.Murugadoss Biography". Sulekha. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
- ^ "10-09-03". Archived from the original on 18 December 2007.
- ^ "Fox International ties up with Murugadoss to produce Tamil films - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". Dnaindia.com. 5 September 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
- ^ "Vijay's Thuppakki makes 180 crore!". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
- ^ Punwani, Umesh (20 June 2014). "Holiday crosses 100 crores at the Box Office". India.com. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
- ^ "Akira is the title for AR Murugadoss-Sonakshi project?". Sify. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- ^ "Mahesh Babu-AR Murugdoss film heads to Ahmedabad for next schedule". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- ^ "Vijay's Sarkar to hit more than 3000 screens worldwide". 5 November 2018.
- ^ Nyayapati, Neeshita. "AR Murugadoss talks about 'Darbar', Rajinikanth and more". The Times of India.
- ^ "Tamil Nadu announces film awards for three years". IndiaGlitz.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2004. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
- ^ "Ramana - IMDb". IMDb.
- ^ "53rd Annual South Filmfare Awards Winners". CineGoer.com. 9 September 2006. Archived from the original on 29 April 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2007.
- ^ "Tamilnadu Govt. awards".[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Winners of 5th Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards : Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. 8 January 2010.
- ^ Parasshuram Shalgar (28 February 2009). "Date of 54th Filmfare Awards". PanAsianBiz. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
- ^ "Priyanka in the running for a second Apsara".
- ^ "Winners of IIFA Awards 2009". OneIndia. 15 June 2009. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
- ^ Filmfare Editorial (9 July 2012). "59th Idea Filmfare Awards South (Winners list)". Filmfare. Times Internet Limited. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
- ^ "Chennai Times Film Awards 2012 nominations". The Times of India. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
- ^ "6th Edition Edison Award gets bigger and grander". Sulekha. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ "60th Idea Filmfare Awards 2013 (South) Nominations". Filmfare Awards South. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ "SIIMA 2013: Vijay's 'Thuppakki' Gets 10 Nominations; Pawan's 'Gabbar Singh' Leads Telugu Category". International Business Times. 27 August 2013. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
- ^ "Thuppakki sweeps Vijay Awards!". The Times of India. 13 May 2013. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ^ "Awards galore for 'Raja Rani' - Tamil News". IndiaGlitz.com. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ "8th Vijay Awards 2014 – Full List of Winners". Awardsandwinners.com. Retrieved 25 July 2014.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "And-the-SIIMA-Awards-go-to". The Times of India. timesofindia. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
- ^ "Winners list: 62nd Filmfare Awards (South)". The Times of India. 27 June 2015. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ "IIFA Utsavam 2015 Nominees — Tamil". IIFA Utsavam. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ^ "SIIMA Awards 2015 Tamil winners list". The Times of India. 8 August 2015. Archived from the original on 9 August 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ^ V. P., Nicy (6 April 2015). "9th Annual Vijay Awards: Ajith, Vijay, Rajinikanth, Suriya, Dhanush Nominated [Complete List]". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
- ^ "Winners of the 66th Filmfare Awards (South) 2019". Filmfare. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ SIIMA Awards 2019: Here’s a complete list of nominees