AR Murugadoss

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A.R. Murugadoss
Murugadoss.jpg
Murugadoss in 2009
Born
Murugadoss Arunasalam

(1974-09-25) 25 September 1974 (age 49)
Occupation
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
Years active2001–present
Spouse(s)
Ramya
(
m. 2005)
RelativesDileepan (brother)

Murugadoss Arunasalam (born 25 September 1974), commonly known as A.R. Murugadoss,[1][2] is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter 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.

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$14 million) domestically.[5] In 2012, he directed the action thriller Thuppakki, starring Vijay, which became the third Tamil film to gross 100 crore at the domestic box office alone,[6] after Sivaji: The Boss (2007) and Enthiran (2010). He worked with Vijay again with the box office hits Kaththi and Sarkar (2018).

Personal life[edit]

Murugadoss was born in Attur, Salem, Tamil Nadu.[7] The initials "AR" refer to his father's name Arunasalam 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.[9] His brother, Dileepan made his acting debut with Vathikuchi, which is Murugadoss' production venture.

Career[edit]

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.[10]

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 and was more successful outside India than in Tamil Nadu. Murugadoss signed a deal with Fox Star Studios to produce two Tamil films.[11]

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[12] after Enthiran. Thuppakki collected over 180 crores as reported by producer. He also directed the Hindi remake of the film, Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty.[13] 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. Recently, he directed Spyder starring Mahesh Babu and Rakul Preet Singh.[14][15] 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.[16] The next, his film Darbar starring Rajinikanth was released on 9 January 2020.[17]

Filmography[edit]

As director, producer, and writer
Year Film Language Director Writer Producer Notes
1997 Poochudava Tamil No Yes No Dialogues only
2001 Dheena Tamil Yes Yes No Director Debut
2002 Ramana Tamil Yes Yes No
2005 Ghajini Tamil Yes Yes No
2006 Stalin Telugu Yes Yes No
2008 Ghajini Hindi Yes Yes No Remake of Ghajini
2011 Engaeyum Eppothum Tamil No No Yes
2011 7am Arivu Tamil Yes Yes No
2012 Thuppakki Tamil Yes Yes No
2013 Vathikuchi Tamil No No Yes
2013 Raja Rani Tamil No No Yes
2014 Maan Karate Tamil No Yes Yes
2014 Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty Hindi Yes Yes No Remake of Thuppakki
2014 Jai Ho Hindi No Yes No Remake of Stalin
2014 Kaththi Tamil Yes Yes No
2015 Gabbar Is Back Hindi No Yes No Remake of Ramana
2015 10 Endrathukulla Tamil No No Yes
2016 Akira Hindi Yes Yes Yes
2017 Khaidi No. 150 Telugu No Yes No Story only
2017 Rangoon Tamil No No Yes
2017 Spyder Tamil / Telugu Yes Yes No Bilingual movie
2018 Sarkar
Tamil Yes Yes No
2020 Darbar Tamil Yes Yes No
2021 Raangi Tamil No Yes No Delayed
As actor

Awards[edit]

Film Award Category Result Ref.
Ramanaa Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Best Dialogue Writer Won [18]
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Best Film Won [19]
Ghajini 53rd South Filmfare Awards Best Director – Tamil Nominated [20]
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Best Film Won [21]
Ghajini 2008 Stardust Awards Hottest New Filmmaker Won [22]
54th Filmfare Awards Best Director Nominated [23]
Producers Guild Film Awards Best Director Won [24]
10th IIFA Awards Best Director Nominated [25]
7aum Arivu 59th South Filmfare Awards Best Director Nominated [26]
Thuppakki The Chennai Times Film Awards Best Director Nominated [27]
Best Screenplay Nominated
4th Edison Awards Best Director Nominated [28]
Best Screenplay Nominated
60th South Filmfare Awards Best Director Nominated [29]
2nd SIIMA Awards Best Director Nominated [30]
7th Vijay Awards Favourite Director Won [31]
Best Director Nominated
Raja Rani Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards The Most Popular Film Won [32]
8th Vijay Awards Favourite Film Nominated [33]
3rd SIIMA Awards Best Film Nominated [34]
Kaththi 62nd South Filmfare Awards Best Director Won [35]
1st IIFA Utsavam Best Director Nominated [36]
4th SIIMA Awards Best Director Nominated [37]
9th Vijay Awards Favourite Director Won [38]
Best Story, Screenplay Writer Nominated
Sarkar 66th Filmfare Awards South Best Director Nominated [39]
8th SIIMA Awards Best Director Nominated [40]

References[edit]

  1. N Madhavan (22 December 2014). "Murugadoss: Tamil cinema's golden messenger". Forbes India. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Murugadoss — Man with the midas touch". SouthScope. Archived from the original on 1 November 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  3. "Aamir's next director speaks". Rediff. 18 April 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  4. Seenivasan, Meera (22 February 2008). "Murugadoss upbeat over Mumbai entry". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 November 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Journey of the 100-Crore Bollywood Film - Forbes India Blog". Forbes India. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  6. https://www.ibtimes.co.in/039thuppakki039-box-office-collection-crosses-100-crore-mark-vijay039s-biggest-grosser-ever-408828
  7. "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.
  8. "A.R.Murugadoss Biography". Sulekha. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  9. "Thought of becoming a Naxalite in college days: Murugadoss". Kollytalk. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20071218130749/http://www.dinakaran.com/cinema/english/interviews/2003/sep/10-09-03.htm
  11. "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.
  12. "Vijay's Thuppakki makes 180 crore!". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  13. Punwani, Umesh (20 June 2014). "Holiday crosses 100 crores at the Box Office". India.com. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  14. "Akira is the title for AR Murugadoss-Sonakshi project?". Sify. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  15. "Mahesh Babu-AR Murugdoss film heads to Ahmedabad for next schedule - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  16. https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/tamil/vijay-sarkar-3000-screens-worldwide-release-5435079/
  17. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/news/ar-murugadoss-talks-about-darbar-rajinikanth-and-more/articleshow/73097334.cms
  18. "Tamil Nadu announces film awards for three years". indiaglitz.com. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
  19. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378647/awards
  20. "53rd Annual South Filmfare Awards Winners". CineGoer.com. 9 September 2006. Archived from the original on 29 April 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2007.
  21. "Tamilnadu Govt. awards".[permanent dead link]
  22. https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/features/winners-of-5th-apsara-film-television-producers-guild-awards/
  23. Parasshuram Shalgar (28 February 2009). "Date of 54th Filmfare Awards". PanAsianBiz. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  24. https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/bollywood/story/priyanka-in-the-running-for-a-second-apsara-63083-2009-12-16
  25. "Winners of IIFA Awards 2009". OneIndia. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  26. Filmfare Editorial (9 July 2012). "59th Idea Filmfare Awards South (Winners list)". Filmfare. Times Internet Limited. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  27. "Chennai Times Film Awards 2012 nominations". The Times of India. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  28. "6th Edition Edison Award gets bigger and grander". Sulekha. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  29. "60th Idea Filmfare Awards 2013 (South) Nominations". Filmfare Awards South. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  30. "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.
  31. "Thuppakki sweeps Vijay Awards!". The Times of India. 13 May 2013. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  32. "Awards galore for 'Raja Rani' - Tamil News". IndiaGlitz.com. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  33. "8th Vijay Awards 2014 – Full List of Winners". Awardsandwinners.com. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  34. "And-the-SIIMA-Awards-go-to". indiatimes. timesofindia. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  35. "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.
  36. "IIFA Utsavam 2015 Nominees — Tamil". IIFA Utsavam. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  37. "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.
  38. 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.
  39. "Winners of the 66th Filmfare Awards (South) 2019". Filmfare. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  40. SIIMA Awards 2019: Here’s a complete list of nominees

External links[edit]

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