Atharva Murali Turns 36 Today

Atharva Murali is the son of 80s actor, the Late Murali. Atharva made his acting debut in the film 2010 Bana Kaathaadi in which Murali made a special guest appearance. Atharva’s co-star was fellow newcomer, Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

The success of this film saw Murali began a dual-language venture with Atharva in the lead role. Unfortunately, Murali passed away a month after the release of Bana Kaathaadi and the project was shelved.

Murali’s comeback film was the modern thriller, Muppozhuthum un Karpanaigal which was filmed on location in Chennai, Bangalore, Las Vegas, New York City and The Grand Canyon. Although the film was only a moderate success, talks began shortly after the film released for an official South Korean remake. That project is still on hold.

His role in Bala’s highly acclaimed Paradesi won him multiple awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

After the box-office failure with Chandi Veeran, directed by Vaagai Sooda Vaa-fame director A.Sarkunam, Atharva returned to form with two successive hits in Eetti and Kanithan.

This was followed by the maiden directorial venture of Odam Illavarasu, titled Gemini Ganeshanum Surullirajanum, a light-hearted romantic comedy that enjoyed only moderate box-office success,

Two years after the launch of his own production company, Kickass Entertainment in 2016, Atharva produced and starred in the film Semma Botha Agathey directed by Badhri Venkatesh, who directed Atharva’s debut film. The film was a moderate success.

Atharva played an important role in Ajay Gnanamuthu’s gripping thriller, Imaika Nodigal which also had Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara in the cast. The film also introduced Raashi Khanna and Bollywood writer and director, Anurag Kashyap to the Tamil screen. The film was a success at the box-office although many of the critics were unimpressed.

His 2019 film Boomerang went largely unnoticed and his expected appearance as the young Karikalan in Maniratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan did not materialise.

After an appearance in the Navarasa anthology on Netflix, Atharva returned with Thalli Pogathey which was shot on location in Chennai, Russia and Azerbhaijan. This film enjoyed only moderate success.

Atharva’s successive films – Kuruthi Aaattam and Trigger did not do well, but he enjoyed better success with A.Sarkunam’s Pattathu Arasan.

His last released film was Karthik Naren’s Nirangal Moondru which did not do as well as expected and he currently has four films in various stages of production. This includes a pivotal role in Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi and the title role in Idhayam Murali, directed by newcomer Akash Baskaran.

Atharva turns 36 today.