Atharvaa Murali is an Indian actor who works in
Tamil cinema. The son of actor
Murali and grandson of director
S. Siddalingaiah
Siddalingaiah (15 December 1936 – 12 March 2015) was an Indian film Film director, director, Screenwriter, scriptwriter and Film producer, producer who worked mainly in the Cinema of Karnataka, Kannada films. He was well known for his distinct ...
, Atharvaa began his acting career with ''
Baana Kaathadi'' (2010). He then garnered critical acclaim for his performance as a youngster suffering from
delusion in the romantic thriller ''
Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal'' (2012), before signing on to feature in
Bala
Bala may refer to:
Places
India
*Bala, India, a village in Allahabad, India
* Bala, Ahor, a village in the Jalore district of Rajasthan
* Bala, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India
Romania
* Bala, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedinţi ...
's
period film ''
Paradesi'' (2013). His role as a rural villager held as a slave in a tea plantation became his breakthrough performance, earning Atharvaa a
Filmfare Award for Best Actor in Tamil.
Early life
Atharva was born as the second child to actor
Murali and his wife, Shobha. He also has an elder sister, Kavya, and a younger brother, Akash. He did his schooling in St. Michael's Academy. He attended Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, majoring in engineering.
Career
2010–2017
In 2009, his father found him an offer to play the lead role in a film to be produced by
Sathya Jyothi Films
Sathya Jyothi Films is an Indian film production and distribution company in Tamil Nadu. It was established in 1977 by T. G. Thyagarajan.
History
Sathya Jyothi Films was founded by T. G. Thyagarajan in the 1970s. Thyagarajan, an MBA graduate ...
and directed by
Badri Venkatesh
Badri Venkatesh (born 2 May 1974) is an Indian film director and television professional of work experience in film direction, film writing, television fiction writing, reality show direction, event direction, and film making, cinematic teaching ...
. Titled ''
Baana Kaathadi'', the film launched in March 2009 and had Atharvaa pair up with fellow rookie actress
Samantha
Samantha (or the alternatively Samanta) is primarily used as a feminine given name. It was recorded in England in 1633 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire. It was also recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its etymology is uncertain.
Spec ...
. Portraying a youngster from the
Royapuram slum area, he stayed in the locality for forty-five days to learn about the lifestyle, while he also learned to fly a kite for the film, canning scenes at the
Gujarat Kite Festival. The film, which also had Murali making a special appearance, released in August 2010 with critics mostly praising his debut performance with
Sify.com writing he "makes a promising debut and he dances and emotes well". Similarly a critic from
Rediff.com added "romance is a cake-walk" for the actor, drawing comparison with his father's performances in romantic roles, though noted "his dialogue delivery is a little too melodramatic". He subsequently gained recognition at the
Edison Awards for Best Debut Actor, while also receiving a nomination from
the Vijay Awards in the same category. The success of the film prompted Murali to begin pre-production on a Tamil and Kannada bilingual film which would feature Atharvaa. However, a month after ''Baana Kaathadis release, his father Murali died after suffering cardiac arrest. Atharvaa consequently took a break to spend time with his family, before beginning work on a different venture.
Gautham Vasudev Menon had previously shown interest in directing Atharvaa for a film. A year later, his next release was ''
Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal'' where he played a youngster suffering from hallucinations, film had an average collection and his performance was stated by
Sify.com as “good but has miles to go in the histrionics department and voice modulation”. His biggest movie was ''
Paradesi'' under the direction of
Bala
Bala may refer to:
Places
India
*Bala, India, a village in Allahabad, India
* Bala, Ahor, a village in the Jalore district of Rajasthan
* Bala, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India
Romania
* Bala, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedinţi ...
, for which he won multiple awards including the
Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. His next film was
Sargunam's ''
Chandi Veeran'' alongside actress
Anandhi, which was a flop the box office.
Atharvaa's ''
Eetti
''Eetti'' () is a 2015 Tamil-language sports action film written and directed by Ravi Arasu and produced by S. Michael Rayappan. The film stars Atharvaa and Sri Divya, while G. V. Prakash Kumar composed the film's music. The film was release ...
'', a sports drama film produced by
S. Michael Rayappan
Siluvai Michael Rayappan (born 19 March 1963) is an Indian politician and former Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from the Radhapuram constituency. He represented the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam party. He is also a film produ ...
, in which he pairs up with
Sri Divya and the thriller ''
Kanithan
''Kanithan'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by T. N. Santhosh and produced by S. Thanu. The film stars Atharvaa and Catherine Tresa. Sivamani composed the film's music. Having begun production in 201 ...
'' in which he features alongside
Catherine Tresa, were hits in the box office. In January 2016, he announced that he had set up a production studio called Kickass Entertainment. The first film under his banner would be directed by Badri Venkatesh, who had introduced Atharvaa as an actor. In 2017, ''
Gemini Ganeshanum Suruli Raajanum'' was released, starring the movie along with
Aishwarya Rajesh,
Regina Cassandra,
Pranitha and
Aaditi Pohankar
Aaditi Pohankar is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi cinema. She had her breakthrough role alongside Riteish Deshmukh in the Marathi action film ''Lai Bhaari'' (2014).Till date she has worked only in two films and two television se ...
.
2018–present
After many postponements and release issues, Atharvaa's debut production ''
Semma Botha Aagathey'' (2018), directed by Badri Venkatesh released and was an average success. The next was a mystery thriller, ''
Imaikkaa Nodigal'' (2018) in which he acted as
Nayanthara
Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as
Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was in the ''Forbes India'' "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual ...
's brother (Arjun). He received major recognition for this movie. In March 2019, ''
Boomerang'', featuring alongside
Megha Akash, was released to average reviews. In September 2019, Atharvaa made his Telugu debut in the film ''
Gaddalakonda Ganesh''.
In 2021, Atharvaa was seen in ''
Navarasa'', an anthology streaming television series on
Netflix. He then starred in ''
Thalli Pogathey'', remake of the Telugu film ''
Ninnu Kori''.
Filmography
Music Videos
WebSeries
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
{{authority control
Indian male film actors
Male actors in Tamil cinema
21st-century Indian male actors
Filmfare Awards South winners
Male actors from Chennai
Kannada people
Living people
1989 births
Tamil actors