Atlee

Arun Kumar (born 21 September 1986), known professionally as Atlee, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer best known for his work in Tamil films. 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. Atlee ranks among the most successful directors in Indian Cinema. 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 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, Fox Star Studios, and Next Big Films. 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.