Murugadas Arunachalam (born 25 September 1974), known professionally as A. R. Murugadoss, () is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He is best known for directing action films mainly on social issues. In addition, he has worked in Telugu films and Hindi films. Murugadoss won the Filmfare Award for Best Director for his 2014 Tamil action drama Kaththi.
Murugadoss' first break in the film industry was as an assistant director of Ratchagan (1997). He then worked with S. J. Surya for the film Kushi (2000) before directing his first film, Dheena (2001). His first Bollywood film was Ghajini (2008), a Hindi remake of his Tamil film of the same name. It became the first Bollywood film to gross over domestically. In 2012, he directed the action thriller Thuppakki, starring Vijay, which became the second Tamil film to gross 100 crore at the domestic box office alone. He worked with Vijay again with the box office hits Kaththi (2014) and Sarkar (2018).
Personal life Murugadoss was born in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu. The initials "AR" refer to his father's name Arunachalam and were added after Murugadoss signed his first film, Dheena(2001). Murugadoss currently resides in Virugambakkam, Chennai. Murugadoss had his schooling at the Government Higher Secondary School and studied BA in Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirapalli. His cousin, Dileepan made his acting debut with Vathikuchi, which is Murugadoss' production venture.
Career
During his college days, Murugadoss was active in cultural events, particularly in mimicry and drawing. He subsequently became a cinephile watching up to seven films a week in his hometown and started writing jokes as well. After Ananda Vikatan published them, Murugadoss began to think of becoming a story writer. At Bharathidasan University he started to write sketch comedies and acted in them. After college he tried to join the Madras Film Institute, but was rejected. Nevertheless, Murugadoss stayed in Chennai in multiple functions. First, he became an assistant writer of P. Kalaimani and wrote dialogues for the Tamil film Madurai Meenakshi. He became assistant director of Ratchagan (1997) for half of the film and continued as assistant script director for the Telugu film Kalisundam Raa. Murugadoss then worked with S. J. Surya for the film Kushi (2000).
S. J. Suryah recommended Murugadoss to Ajith Kumar for directing his debut film, Dheena. His next films were Ramana, Ghajini, and Stalin.
In 2003, he contemplated making a film titled Varathan with Vikram in the lead role for producer Oscar Ravichandran, but later moved on to other projects.
His fifth film was Ghajini, which was a Hindi remake of his same-titled 2005 film and marked his Bollywood debut. It released in 2008 and became the first Bollywood film to gross over 100 crore domestically. His next Tamil film 7 Aum Arivu, was released in 2011. Murugadoss signed a deal with Fox Star Studios to produce two Tamil films.
In 2012, he directed the action thriller Thuppakki, starring Vijay and produced by S. Dhanu released in 2012 to mostly positive reviews and became the second Tamil film to enter the 100 crore club domestically alone after Enthiran. Thuppakki collected over 180 crores end of its run as reported by the producer. He also directed the Hindi remake of the film, Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty. In 2014, he was the writer and producer for the fantasy film Maan Karate starring Sivakarthikeyan which was directed by his former assistant Thirukumaran.
In 2014, he directed the action drama Kaththi starring Vijay and produced by Lyca Productions released in 2014 and emerged as one of the top-grossing films in Kollywood for 2014, collecting an estimated 131 crores. In 2016, he directed Akira starring Sonakshi Sinha. It is a remake of the Tamil film Mouna Guru. Then, he directed Spyder starring Mahesh Babu and Rakul Preet Singh. He joined with Vijay once again for the movie Sarkar which is produced by Sun Pictures Kalanithi Maran which released in 2018 for the Diwali. It was released in over 3000 screens around the world. The next, his film Darbar starring Rajinikanth was released in 2020.
After five years, Murugadoss made his directorial comeback in 2025 with two films Sikandar with Salman Khan, and Madharaasi with Sivakarthikeyan.
On 1 February 2026, it was reported that filmmaker A. R. Murugadoss would direct a high-profile pan-Indian action thriller featuring Sunny Deol and Jyotika in the lead roles, marking the first collaboration between the two actors.
Filmography
As director Year Film Language Notes2001DheenaTamil2002Ramanaa2005Ghajini2006StalinTelugu2008GhajiniHindi A remake of his Ghajini (2005)20117 Aum ArivuTamil2012Thuppakki2014 Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off DutyHindi A remake of his Thuppakki (2012) Kaththi Tamil 2016AkiraHindi A remake of Mouna Guru (2011) 2017 SpyderTeluguTamil Bilingual film2018 SarkarTamil 2020Darbar2025 SikandarHindiMadharaasiTamil
As producer Year Film Notes2011Engaeyum Eppothum2013VathikuchiRaja Rani2014Maan Karate201510 Endrathukulla2016AkiraHindi film2017Rangoon2023August 16 1947
As writer YearFilm Credited as NotesWriter1997Poochudava2014Maan Karate rowspan="2" 2022Raangi
As an actor + Year Title Role Notes 1997 PoochudavaMan requesting loan20117 Aum ArivuDirector in the interview Uncredited appearance2012Thuppakki HimselfUncredited appearance in the song "Google Google"2014Maan Karate Special appearance in the song "Open the Tasmac"Kaththi Common man Uncredited appearance 2015Isai HimselfSpecial appearance2018NOTA Sarkar Uncredited appearance in the song "Oru Viral Puratchi" 2025 Madharaasi Public person Uncredited appearance
Awards Film Award Category ResultRef.Ramanaa Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Best Dialogue Writer Tamil Nadu State Film AwardsBest FilmGhajini53rd Filmfare Awards SouthBest Director – TamilTamil Nadu State Film AwardsBest FilmGhajiniStardust AwardsHottest New Filmmaker54th Filmfare AwardsBest DirectorProducers Guild Film AwardsBest Director10th IIFA AwardsBest Director7 Aum Arivu59th Filmfare Awards SouthBest DirectorThuppakkiThe Chennai Times Film AwardsBest DirectorBest Screenplay4th Edison AwardsBest DirectorBest Screenplay60th Filmfare Awards SouthBest Director2nd SIIMA AwardsBest Director 7th Vijay AwardsFavourite DirectorBest DirectorRaja RaniNorway Tamil Film Festival AwardsThe Most Popular Film8th Vijay AwardsFavourite Film3rd SIIMA AwardsBest FilmKaththi62nd Filmfare Awards SouthBest Director1st IIFA UtsavamBest Director 4th SIIMA Awards9th Vijay AwardsFavourite DirectorBest Story, Screenplay WriterSarkar66th Filmfare Awards SouthBest Director8th SIIMA AwardsBest DirectorSIIMA Awards 2019: Here’s a complete list of nomineesDarbar10th SIIMA Awards
References
External links