Murali

S. D. Murali (19 May 1964 – 8 September 2010) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil films and few Kannada films. He was famous for roles that portrayed him as a perceptive singer or a tragic lover. His son, Atharvaa, debuted as an actor in the 2010 film Baana Kaathadi. Early life Murali was born on 19 May 1964 in Bangalore to a Kannadiga father and Tamil mother. Murali had two siblings; a younger brother S.D.Suresh and a sister Santhi. He lived and studied up to his 5th Standard in Chennai, and from 6th Standard to 10th Standard he studied in Bangalore. When he was 14 years old, he joined as an assistant director to his father, film director and writer S. Siddalingaiah. For some time, he worked as an editing assistant. Career Murali started his acting career in 1982 with the Kannada film Geluvina Hejje, directed by director Eranki Sharma. Prema Parva, Bili Gulabi, Ajeya, Prema Gange, Thayikotta Thali, Sambhavami Yuge Yuge, Ajay-Vijay are the Kannada films he did before entering into Tamil film industry. Poovilangu was his first Tamil film. He earned a good name with that film. He then acted in Pagal Nilavu, along with actress Revathi and directed by Mani Ratnam who made his directorial debut in Tamil cinema. Though this film garnered Murali great recognition, he could not sustain his success much longer. His films started failing at the box-office one after another and during that period, he even acted in double hero subjects : Vanna Kanavugal (1987) with Karthik, Thangamani Rangamani (1989) with S. Ve. Shekher and Ninaivu Chinnam (1989) with Prabhu. In 1990, he starred in Vikraman's Pudhu Vasantham along with Sithara and Anand Babu, where he plays one amongst four friends who find themselves unexpectedly saddled with a young woman. The film was successful and set off a trend of "friendship" based movies and also propelled his career. In 1991, he acted in Idhayam, where he portrayed the soft hero who was incapable of expressing his love due to his inferiority complex. Soon, Murali found himself playing in rural drama films: Chinna Pasanga Naanga (1992), Manikuyil (1993), Manju Virattu (1994), Adharmam (1994), En Aasai Machan (1994) and Poomani (1996).