Atlee (director)
Arun Kumar, (born 21 September 1986) known mononymously as Atlee, is an Indian director who makes Tamil-language films. A former assistant director under S. Shankar on the films "Enthiran" (2010) and "Nanban" (2012), he is best known for his directorial debut, "Raja Rani", produced by Fox Star Studios, for which he was awarded the Vijay Award for Best Debut Director. His next ventures as a director, screenplay and writer for "Theri (2016)", "Mersal" (2017) and "Bigil" (2019), all featured actor Vijay. He is making an upcoming movie with Shah Rukh Khan. Career. Kumar began his career as  an assistant director in "Enthiran" (2010) under director S. Shankar and continued to work with him in his next project "Nanban" (2012), a remake of the Hindi film "3 Idiots". In 2013, he made his directorial debut with "Raja Rani". The film was produced by Fox Star Studios and AR Murugadoss, and was a romantic comedy featuring Arya, Jai, Nayanthara, Nazriya Nazim and Sathyaraj. "Raja Rani" earned over 500 million from the South Indian box office within four weeks and won him the Vijay Award for Best Debut Director. Kumar’s next directorial project, "Theri", became the second-highest-grossing  Tamil film of 2016. This was his first film with actor Vijay. He started his own production house called A for Apple Production and jointly produced his first film with Fox Star Studios; the film was "Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae", a horror comedy film written and directed by Ike Radha and starring Jiiva, Sridivya and Soori. His next film, "Mersal", starring Vijay, Nithya Menon, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha and S. J. Surya, with music by A. R. Rahman and produced by Sri Thenandal Films, was released on Diwali 2017. Critics praised Vijay's performance, A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, the cinematography , the social message and Kumar's direction; "Mersal" also proved a commercial success, grossing ₹251 crore (US$39.5 million) worldwide to become the fifth-highest-grossing Tamil film and Vijay's highest-grossing film of his career. Kumar's next film, "Bigil", was his third collaboration with Vijay and released on Diwali 2019 and was a commercial success by grossing more than Rs 300 Crore at Box Office and highest grosser of 2019 among Tamil Films. His next film, Andhaghaaram starring Arjun Das and Vinoth Kishan released on 24 November 2020 on Netflix. He will be making his debut  in Bollywood by directing Shah Rukh Khan and Nayanthara in a film. Personal life. Arun Kumar married actress Krishna Priya on 9 November 2014.