Atlee (director)

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.[2]

Atlee
Atlee at the 8th Vijay Awards, 2014
Born
Arun Kumar

(1986-09-21) 21 September 1986
Thiruparankundram, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Alma materSathyabama University[1]
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
Years active2010–present
Spouse
Krishna Priya
​
(m. 2014)​
Children1 (Son)

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 romantic comedy film, produced by AR Murugadoss, Fox star studios and Next Big Films, starring Arya, Jai, Nayanthara, Nazriya Nazim and Sathyaraj. Raja Rani earned over 150 crores at the box office[3] and won him the Best Debut Director award from Vijay Awards.[4]

Following Raja Rani 's success, 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. The film released worldwide receiving positive reviews from critics who praised the cast performances, soundtrack and the making of the film. Grossing over 250 crores at the box office, the film emerged as a commercial success and became the second highest grossing Tamil and South Indian film of 2016. It further won three SIIMA awards, three IIFA Utsavam awards and nine nominations at the 64th Filmfare awards south.

In 2017, Atlee went on to direct Mersal , an action film, produced by Thenandal Studio Ltd. starring Vijay, and Nithya Menen while S. J. Surya, Sathyaraj, Vadivelu, Hareesh Peradi, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Kovai Sarala appear in pivotal supporting roles. The film was a commercial success becoming one of the highest-grossing films in Tamil cinema, grossing more than 360 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 soon directed his next film Bigil, an action film, produced by Kalpathi S. Aghoram under the banner AGS Entertainment. The film stars Vijay in the titular role along with Nayanthara, Jackie Shroff, Vivek and Kathir in other prominent roles. The film marked as the third collaboration of Vijay and Atlee after Theri and Mersal. The film has music composed by the Academy Award winning music composer A.R Rahman. Bigil emerged as the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019, collecting ₹400 crore upon its release, it further became the one of the highest-grossing Tamil film of all time and Vijay's highest-grossing film in his career. The film also won two awards each at the Zee Cine Awards Tamil, Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards, three Edison Awards and a SIIMA Award.

He also ventured into producing films. In 2017, Atlee along with his wife Priya Atlee, started their own production house called " A for Apple Production ". and jointly produced their first film with Fox Star Studios. The film Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae, a horror comedy film is written and directed by Ike. The film stars Jiiva, Sri Divya, and Soori in the lead roles while Radha Ravi, Raadhika Sarathkumar, and Thambi Ramaiah play supporting roles. The film's music was composed by Vishal Chandrasekhar.

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

Personal life

Atlee married actress Krishna Priya on 9 November 2014. He has a son who was born 31st January 2023 [5][6]

Filmography

As director, writer and producer
Year Title Director Writer Producer Language Notes
2013Raja Rani YesYesNo Tamil
2016Theri YesYesNo
2017 Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae NoNoYes[7]
2017Mersal YesYesNo co-writer: Vijayendra Prasad
2019Bigil YesYesNo
2020 Andhaghaaram NoNoYes
2023Jawan YesYesNoHindi

Guest appearances
List of special appearances by Atlee in film
Year Title Notes Ref.
2012NanbanIn the song "Asku Laska"
2019BigilIn the song "Singapenney"

Accolades
FilmAwardCategoryResultRef
Raja Rani Tamil Nadu State Film Awards 2013 Best Dialogue Writer Won [8]
Edison Awards Best Debut Director Won
8th Vijay Awards Best Debut Director Won [9]
Best Story, Screenplay Writer Nominated
Best Dialogue Nominated
3rd SIIMA Awards Best Debut Director Nominated
Theri 2nd IIFA Utsavam Best Director – Tamil Won [10]
Behindwoods Gold Medal People's Choice Director Won [11]
6th SIIMA Awards Best Director – Tamil Won [12]
64th Filmfare Awards South Best Director – Tamil Nominated [13]
Mersal Edison Awards 2018 Best Director Won [14]
65th Filmfare Awards South Best Director – Tamil Nominated [15]
7th SIIMA Awards Best Director Won [16]
Techofes Awards Best Director Won [17]
10th Vijay Awards Favourite Director Won [18]
[19]
Best Dialogue Nominated

References
  1. "Atlee Kumar (atlee) Biography, Life Story, Career, Awards & Achievements". Filmibeat. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  2. "Atlee Kumar (atlee) Biography, Life Story, Career, Awards & Achievements". Filmibeat. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  3. "Raja Rani crosses 50 crore mark". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  4. "8th Annual Vijay Awards a grand success". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  5. "Director Atlee is engaged to his Rani, Krishna Priya". Behindwoods. 20 January 2016.
  6. "Atlee-Krishna Priya Wedding Reception Photos". International Business Times. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  7. "Before Thalapathy 63: The films Atlee has been accused of plagiarising". India Today. Chennai. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  8. "TN Govt. announces Tamil Film Awards for six years". The Hindu. 14 July 2017.
  9. Sangeetha, Seshagiri (6 July 2014). "Vijay Awards: Ajith's 'Arrambam', Kamal Haasan, Sivakarthikeyan Bag Awards [Winners List]". IB Times. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  10. Upadhyaya, Prakash (14 March 2017). "IIFA South Utsavam Awards 2017: Here is the complete nomination list for Tamil movies". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  11. "Complete list of award winners in Behindwoods Gold Medals 2017". Behindwoods. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  12. "SIIMA 2017 Nomination List – Tamil". South Indian International Movie Awards. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  13. "Tamil Nominations for Filmfare Awards South 2017". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  14. Upadhyaya, Prakash (26 February 2018). "Ilayathalapathy Vijay's Mersal sweeps Edison Awards [winners' list]". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  15. "Nominations for the 65th Jio Filmfare Awards (South) 2018". Filmfare. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original on 4 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  16. Goyal, Divya (15 August 2018). "SIIMA 2018 Nominations: Vijay's Mersal Beats Madhavan And Vijay Sethupathi's Vikram Vedha". NDTV. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  17. "T-Awards Poll". Techofes. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
    "Pro Shows". Techofes. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  18. Upadhyaya, Prakash (4 June 2018). "Vijay Awards 2018: Here is the complete list of winners [Photos]". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 4 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  19. "The Glitzy Night is Here!". Hotstar. 16 June 2018. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
    "Stars of the Night". Hotstar. 17 June 2018. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
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