{
  "id": 8890241,
  "title": "Atlee turns 40 with five films, every one a hit, from Shankar's assistant to Jawan a look at his career",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/atlee-turns-40-with-five-films-every-one-a-hit-from-shankars",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-21T08:44:34.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf News",
    "slug": "gulf-news",
    "url": "https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/atlee-turns-40-with-five-films-every-one-a-hit-from-shankars-assistant-to-jawan-a-look-at-his-career-1.500682164"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Atlee, born as Arun Kumar on September 21, 1986, in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, is a celebrated film director known for his five successful feature films: Theri, Mersal, Bigil, Jawan, and the upcoming Raaka. He started his career as an assistant director to renowned director Jeyam Ravi, working on blockbuster films like Enthiran and Nanban. After directing his debut film, Raja Rani in 2013, Atlee gained recognition with his blockbuster trilogy featuring Vijay: Theri, Mersal, and Bigil. His directorial journey reached new heights with Jawan, the first Indian film to break the $16 million mark at the UAE box office, and is now set to release his sixth film, Raaka, which is generating buzz with its focus on motion capture technology.",
  "summary": "Dubai: Atlee turns 40 today , and he is spending the day the way his films usually arrive: with a countdown, a cryptic poster and a fanbase decoding every frame. Stay Tuned ✨ #Raaka #Mocap pic.twitter.com/1GISRJj8ES — Sun Pictures (@sunpictures) September 21, 2026 The director behind Theri, Mersal, Bigil and Jawan has made only five feature films. All five were commercial hits. The latest, Jawan…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}