Atlee (director)

Indian film director, screenwriter, and producerTemplate:SHORTDESC:Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer
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**Arun Kumar** (born 21 September 1986), known mononymously as **Atlee**, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer best known for his work in Tamil films.

He initially worked as an assistant director under S. Shankar in the films *Enthiran* (2010) and *Nanban* (2012). He made his directorial debut with the film *Raja Rani* starring Nayanthara, Nazriya, Arya and Jai, produced by Fox Star Studios, for which he was awarded Best Debut Director by Vijay Award and Tamil Nadu State award for best dialogue writer.

He directed his films *Theri* (2016), *Mersal* (2017) and *Bigil* (2019), also featuring actor Vijay. Atlee's upcoming film is *Jawan* (2023) starring Shah Rukh Khan.

## Career

Atlee began his career at the age of 19, as an assistant director to director S. Shankar for the films *Enthiran* (2010) and *Nanban* (2012), a remake of the Hindi film *3 Idiots*. His short film, *Mugaputhagam* (2011), received a massive response from the public and throughout various media platforms. In 2013, Atlee went on to make his directorial debut with *Raja Rani* a rom com produced by AR Murugadoss, Fox Star Studios, and Next Big Films, starring Arya, Jai, Nayanthara, Nazriya Nazim and Sathyaraj. It earned over ₹50 crores at the box office and won him the Best Debut Director award from Vijay Awards.

Following the success of *Raja Rani*, Atlee went on to direct his next hit film, *Theri* (2016), an emotional action thriller, produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu, starring actor Vijay, Samantha, and Amy Jackson in the lead roles. It received mixed reviews from the critics who praised the performances of the cast, soundtrack, score, cinematography, production design, and action sequences. Grossing over ₹156 crores at the box office, it emerged as a commercial success and became the second highest grossing Tamil of 2016.

In 2017, Atlee went on to direct *Mersal*, an action film, produced by Thenandal Studio Limited. Again starring Vijay, it also had Nithya Menen, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, S. J. Surya, Sathyaraj, Vadivelu, Hareesh Peradi, and Kovai Sarala appear in pivotal supporting roles. It was a commercial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing films in Tamil cinema, grossing more than ₹250 crores worldwide. It is also a recipient of various accolades. The film was released on 6 December 2018 in China by HGC Entertainment. Due to demand, the film was screened at the largest cinema theatre in Europe Grand Rex, France. The film was screened at the Hainan International Film Festival in Hainan, China and at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea.

Atlee directed his next film, *Bigil* (2019), a sports action drama, produced by AGS Entertainment. He reunited with Vijay in the titular role, for the third consecutive time, along with Nayanthara, Jackie Shroff, Vivek and Kathir in other prominent roles. The music was composed by A. R. Rahman. Upon release, it received mixed-to-positive reviews and emerged as the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019, collecting ₹310 crore upon its release. It also became one of the highest-grossing Tamil film of all-time and Vijay's highest-grossing film of his career.

He also ventured into producing films. In 2017, Atlee along with his wife, Priya Atlee, started their own production house called, A for Apple Productions. They jointly produced their first film with Fox Star Studios, *Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae*, a horror comedy, written and directed by Ike. It starred Jiiva, Sri Divya, and Soori in the lead roles.

In 2020, A for Apple Productions produced yet another film, *Andhaghaaram*, a supernatural horror thriller film, written and directed by V. Vignarajan. It was produced by Priya Atlee, alongside Sudhan Sundaram, and Jayaram, under their banner, Passion Studio and K. Poornachandra's O2 Pictures. It starred Arjun Das, Vinoth Kishan, and Kumar Natarajan in the lead roles along with Pooja Ramachandran and Misha Ghoshal in supporting roles. It was released directly on Netflix for streaming, on 24 November 2020.

Atlee will be making his debut in Hindi cinema with *Jawan*, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Priyamani, Sanya Malhotra, Ridhi Dogra, along with a whole other ensemble. Deepika Padukone, Sanjay Dutt, and Vijay are slated to make a special appearance and cameo appearances, respectively, in the film. It was produced by Khan's wife, Gauri Khan, and Gaurav Verma, under Red Chillies Entertainment. The music was composed by Anirudh Ravichander. It is slated to release on 7 September 2023.

## Personal life

Atlee married actress Krishna Priya on 9 November 2014. He has a son who was born on 31 January 2023.

### Guest appearances

List of special appearances by Atlee in film
 2019 | *Bigil* | In the song "Singapenney"

## References

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1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Atlee`
2. ↑ [TBA Raja Rani crosses 50 crore mark]. *The Times of India*.
3. ↑ [TBA 8th Annual Vijay Awards a grand success].
4. ↑ [TBA India's Vijay Scores New Personal Record With Excellent 'Theri' Debut]. *Forbes*.
5. ↑ [TBA Vijay's 'Mersal' Rules Overseas With ₹20 Cr./$3M Start]. *Forbes*.
6. ↑ [TBA Did Vijay's 'Bigil' incur losses at the box office despite being the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019?]. *The Times of India*.
7. ↑ [TBA Sangili Bungili... star cast gets bigger]. *Deccan Chronicle*.
8. ↑ [TBA Atlee’s Andhaghaaram to release on Netflix]. *The Indian Express*.
9. ↑ [TBA ‘A dream come true’: Atlee, Anirudh Ravichander express excitement about working with Shah Rukh Khan in Jawan]. *The Indian Express*.
10. ↑ [TBA Director Atlee is engaged to his Rani, Krishna Priya] (20 January 2016).
11. ↑ [TBA Atlee-Krishna Priya Wedding Reception Photos] (9 November 2014).
12. ↑ [TBA Before Thalapathy 63: The films Atlee has been accused of plagiarising] (en) (17 April 2019).

## External links

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* TBA
* TBA
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