Atlee is a film director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for his work in the Tamil film industry. After working as an assistant director on several mega-hits, Atlee broke onto the scene with his directorial debut
Raja Rani, in 2013.
Early LifeAtlee was born as Arun Kumar in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, on 21 September 1986. He grew up in Chennai and studied Visual Communications at Sathyabhama University.
Personal LifeIn November 2014, Atlee got married to
Krishna Priya, a prominent TV and film personality. The two decided to tie the knot after knowing each other for around eight years.
Movie CareerAtlee began his film career as an assistant director to
Shankar Shanmugham. His first project with the director was the
Rajinikanth and
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan-starrer
Enthiran (2010). The movie, a Tamil sci-fi film, won numerous awards and accolades. Atlee then worked as an assistant director on
Shankar`s
Nanban (2012), a Tamil remake of the cult Bollywood film
3 Idiots.
In the year 2013, Atlee made his directorial debut with the romantic drama film
Raja Rani, starring
Arya and
Nayanthara in the lead roles. The film went on to be a huge critical and commercial success and Atlee won the Vijay Award for Best Debut Director. His next venture was
Theri (2016), an action family drama movie, starring
Vijay,
Samantha Ruth Prabhu, and
Amy Jackson.
Theri was extremely successful and grossed over a whopping 250 crore INR at the international box office. The film was also dubbed in Telugu and screened under the name
Police.
After founding his own production house, A for Apple Productions, Atlee collaborated with Fox Star Studios to produce a horror comedy film, Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae (2017). His 2019 release includes
Bigil. He then produced the supernatural horror-thriller Andhaghaaram (2020). He then wrote and directed Shah Rukh Khan starrer
Jawan (2023).