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Atlee (director)

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

(1986-09-21) 21 September 1986 (age 38)
Thiruparankundram, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupations
Years active2010–present
Spouse
Krishna Priya
​
(m. 2014)​
[1]
Children1

Arun Kumar (born 21 September 1986), known professionally as Atlee, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer best known for his work in Tamil cinema and Hindi Cinema. 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 (2013), produced by Fox Star Studios, for which he was awarded Best Debut Director by the Vijay Award and the Tamil Nadu State award for best dialogue writer.

He directed the films Theri (2016), Mersal (2017) and Bigil (2019), all featuring Vijay, all of which became commercially successful at the box office and won several accolades. He then directed the Hindi-language Jawan (2023) starring Shah Rukh Khan, which emerged as his highest-grossing release.

Career

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Atlee began his career at the age of 25, 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 across various media platforms. In 2013, Atlee went on to make his directorial debut with Raja Rani, a rom com produced by A. R. Murugadoss. It starred Arya, Jai, Nayanthara, Nazriya Nazim, and Sathyaraj. It earned over ₹50 crores at the box office and won him the Best Debut Director award at the Vijay Awards.[2][3]

Following the success of Raja Rani, Atlee went on to direct his next film, Theri (2016), an emotional action thriller, produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu, starring Vijay, Samantha, and Amy Jackson in the lead roles. It received positive reviews from the critics who praised the performances of the cast, soundtrack, score, cinematography, production design, and action sequences. Grossing over ₹150 crores at the box office, it emerged as a huge commercial success and became the second highest grossing Tamil of 2016.[4]

In 2017, Atlee went on to direct Mersal, an action thriller, produced by Thenandal Studio Limited. Again starring Vijay, it also had Nithya Menen, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, S. J. Suryah, 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 ₹260 crores worldwide. The film became the 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.[5]

Atlee directed his next film, Bigil (2019), a sports action drama, produced by AGS Entertainment. He reunited for the third and second time with Vijay and Nayanthara, respectively. It also starred Jackie Shroff, Vivek and Kathir in other prominent roles. The music was composed by A. R. Rahman. Upon release, it received fairly positive reviews and emerged as the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019, collecting ₹305 crore upon its release. It also became one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of all-time and one of the highest-grossing film of Vijay's career.[6]

He also ventured into producing films. In 2017, Atlee and his wife, Priya Atlee, started their own production house, 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.[7]

In 2020, Atlee and Priya produced their second 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 Meesha Ghoshal in supporting roles. It was released directly on Netflix for streaming, on 24 November 2020.[8]

Atlee made his debut in Hindi cinema with Jawan,[9] starring Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Priyamani, Sanya Malhotra, Riddhi Dogra, along with others. Deepika Padukone and Sanjay Dutt made a special appearance and cameo appearance, 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 released on 7 September 2023 to generally positive reviews from both the critics and audience, alike. It set the record for a Hindi film grossing ₹129 crores (US$12.9 million) on its opening day. It grossed ₹520.79 crores worldwide in its opening weekend. It made about ₹1150 crores worldwide in its entire run and become an all-time blockbuster at the box office.

Personal life

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Atlee married actress Krishna Priya on 9 November 2014.[10] Their son was born on 13 January 2023.[11]

Filmography

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As director

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Year Title Language Notes
2013 Raja Rani Tamil[12]
2016 Theri
2017 Mersal
2019 Bigil
2023 Jawan Hindi

As producer

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Year Title Language Notes
2017 Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae Tamil
2020 Andhaghaaram
2024 Baby John Hindi Remake of Theri
Co-producer

As actor

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List of guest appearances by Atlee in film
Year Title Notes
2012 Nanban In the song "Asku Laska"
2019 Bigil In the song "Singappenney"
2023 Jawan In the song "Zinda Banda"

Recurring collaborations

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Editor Ruben, art director T. Muthuraj and actor Sai Dheena have worked on five of Atlee's films. Shobi and Yogi Babu has worked on four of his films. This list only concerns Atlee's directorial films.

Films Ruben T. Muthuraj Sai Dheena Shobi Yogi Babu Vijay Nayanthara G. K. Vishnu Vivek (lyricist) Manobala Rajendran Samantha Ruth Prabhu Amritha Aiyer
Raja Rani (2013) checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY
Theri (2016) checkY checkY checkY checkY checkYdeleted scene checkY checkY checkY checkY checkYuncredited
Mersal (2017) checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY
Bigil (2019) checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY
Jawan (2023) checkY checkY checkY checkY checkYTamil version checkY checkY checkY Tamil version

Plagiarism allegations and criticism

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Atlee's films, though commercially successful, but have been criticized for having overly-familiar stories that have been done-to-death, starting from the 1980s of Tamil cinema. Raja Rani was described as an upgraded version of Mouna Ragam (1986), while Theri was described as inspired by Chatriyan (1990).[13] Mersal was described as an upgraded version of Apoorva Sagodharargal (1989) as well as Moondru Mugam (1982).[14] Bigil was described as "Chak De! India (2007) on steroids".[15] His film Jawan even though being a commercial success have been criticised for having frame to frame plagiarism in certain scenes as well as similar story threads of other multiple films including Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), Who Am I? (1998), Money Heist (2017–2021), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), Vikramarkudu (2006), Arrambam (2014), Kaththi (2014), Sarkar (2018), Mankatha (2011) and Welcome to Central Jail (2016). Atlee has countered that, despite having been sued for plagiarism numerous times.[16]

Accolades

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Film Award Category Result Ref
Raja Rani Tamil Nadu State Film Awards 2013 Best Dialogue Writer Won [17]
Edison Awards Best Debut Director Won
8th Vijay Awards Best Debut Director Won [18]
Best Story, Screenplay Writer Nominated
Best Dialogue Nominated
3rd SIIMA Awards Best Debut Director Nominated
Theri 2nd IIFA Utsavam Best Director – Tamil Won [19]
6th SIIMA Awards Best Director – Tamil Won [20]
64th Filmfare Awards South Best Director – Tamil Nominated [21]
Mersal Edison Awards 2018 Best Director Won [22]
65th Filmfare Awards South Best Director – Tamil Nominated [23]
7th SIIMA Awards Best Director Won [24]
10th Vijay Awards Favourite Director Won [25]
[26]
Best Dialogue Nominated

References

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  1. ^ The Times of India (16 January 2017). "Atlee announces this wedding date!". Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Raja Rani crosses 50 crore mark". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  3. ^ "8th Annual Vijay Awards a grand success". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  4. ^ "India's Vijay Scores New Personal Record With Excellent 'Theri' Debut". Forbes. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Vijay's 'Mersal' Rules Overseas With ₹20 Cr./$3M Start". Forbes. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Did Vijay's 'Bigil' incur losses at the box office despite being the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019?". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  7. ^ "Sangili Bungili... star cast gets bigger". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Atlee's Andhaghaaram to release on Netflix". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  9. ^ "'A dream come true': Atlee, Anirudh Ravichander express excitement about working with Shah Rukh Khan in Jawan". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  10. ^ "Atlee-Krishna Priya Wedding Reception Photos". International Business Times. 9 November 2014. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  11. ^ "Jawan director Atlee Kumar and wife Priya reveal name of baby boy, share family photo". The Economic Times. 7 May 2023. ISSN 0013-0389. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  12. ^ "Before Thalapathy 63: The films Atlee has been accused of plagiarising". India Today. Chennai. 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Before Thalapathy 63: The films Atlee has been accused of plagiarising". India Today. 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Mersal is indebted to Kamal Haasan's Aboorva Sagotharargal, as much as Baahubali to Thevar Magan". The Indian Express. 21 October 2017. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  15. ^ "Shahrukh Khan calls Bigil trailer, Chak De India on steroids". Cinema Express. 12 October 2019. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  16. ^ "Assistant director to being Ambani's guest, Atlee's growth is a huge inspiration". India Today. 21 September 2023. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  17. ^ "TN Govt. announces Tamil Film Awards for six years". The Hindu. 14 July 2017. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  18. ^ Sangeetha, Seshagiri (6 July 2014). "Vijay Awards: Ajith's 'Arrambam', Kamal Haasan, Sivakarthikeyan Bag Awards [Winners List]". IB Times. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ "SIIMA 2017 Nomination List – Tamil". South Indian International Movie Awards. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  21. ^ "Tamil Nominations for Filmfare Awards South 2017". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ "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.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ "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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