Arun Kumar (born 21 September 1986), known mononymously as Atlee, is a film director, screenwriter and producer best known for his work in the Indian films. He initially worked as an assistant director to S. Shankar for the films Enthiran (2010) and Nanban (2012). He made his directorial debut with the film Raja Rani starring Nayanthara , Nazriya, Arya and Jai, produced by Fox Star Studios,for which he was awarded Best Debut Director by Vijay Award and Tamil Nadu Sate award for best dialogue writer. Following the success of his debut film, he went on to direct his next film Theri (2016) starring actor Vijay as the lead.