Meet director who created history in Bollywood with debut, was accused of plagiarism, faced legal issues, now making comeback with..

This acclaimed Indian filmmaker has made a significant impact in the Tamil film industry as a director, producer, and screenwriter. With a penchant for crafting high-octane action films in Tamil and Telugu, he has also successfully remade several of his projects in Hindi cinema.  He was behind the first Bollywood film to gross over Rs 100 crore domestically. Born in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu, his initials, "AR", pay tribute to his father, Arunasalam. Interestingly, he adopted this moniker after the release of his debut film, Dheena, in 2001. Yes, we are talking about AR Murugadoss. 

AR Murugadoss did his schooling at the Government Higher Secondary School and studied BA in Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirapalli. His film career began as an assistant director for Ratchagan (1997). He debuted as a director with Dheena (2001) and later entered Bollywood with Ghajini (2008), which starred Aamir Khan and Asin and grossed Rs 100 crore domestically. He then went on to direct successful films like Thuppakki (2012), Kaththi (2014), and Sarkar (2018) with Vijay. He is currently among the most successful directors. His last film was Darbar (2020). Now after a gap of five year, he is gearing up a comeback with a highly anticipated film, Sikandar, which stars Salman Khan and Rashmika Mandanna, after a gap of five years. 
 

 

 

 

 

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In 2018, a case was filed against Murugadoss over a scene in his film Sarkar, a political satire starring Vijay and Keerthy Suresh, which showed people burning free government-issued schemes. Murugadoss made a brief appearance in a scene in Sarkar, sparking controversy. However, the Madras High Court ultimately dismissed the three-year-long case, ruling that objections to specific scenes or dialogue cannot be raised once a film has been cleared by the censors, providing relief to Murugadoss.

Murugadoss had also faced plagiarism allegations multiple times. Ahead of the release of Sarkar, he was accused of stealing the story. Similarly, his film Ghajini was criticised for allegedly lifting its plot from Christopher Nolan's Memento, prompting Aamir Khan to intervene and clarify that the film was not a copy. Additionally, Murugadoss's 2014 film Kaththi was embroiled in a plagiarism controversy, with writer and director Minjur Gopi claiming that Murugadoss had stolen his script. Although the issue was reportedly resolved out of court, Gopi's debut film Aramm tackled a similar concept, raising questions about Kaththi's originality.

Besides Sikandar, Murugadoss also has Tamil action thriller film Madharasi, starring Sivakarthikeyan, Biju Menon, Vidyut Jammwal, and Rukmini Vasanth. The film is produced by N. Srilakshmi Prasad under Sri Lakshmi Movies.