Atharvaa

Atharvaa receiving Best Actor – Tamil Award at the 61st Filmfare Awards South from Samantha Ruth Prabhu for his performance in the film Paradesi (2013)

After completing school, Atharvaa chose to pursue a career in films and began to undertake classes with stunt choreographers to prepare himself physically as an actor. In 2009, his father found him an offer to play the lead role in a film to be produced by Sathya Jyothi Films and directed by Badri Venkatesh. Titled Baana Kaathadi, the film launched in March 2009 and had Atharvaa pair up with fellow rookie actress Samantha. 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.[3] The film, which also had Murali making a special appearance, released in August 2010 to positive reviews and his performance was praised, with Sify.com writing he "makes a promising debut and he dances and emotes well".[4] 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".[5] 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 language bilingual film which would feature Atharvaa. However, a month after Baana Kaathadi's 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.[6]

Gautham Menon had previously shown interest in directing Atharvaa for a film.[7] A year later, his next release was Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal where he played a youngster suffering from hallucinations, film did well and his performance was well received.[8] His biggest movie was Paradesi under the direction of Bala, for which he won multiple awards including the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. His most recent movie was director Sargunam's Chandi Veeran alongside actress Anandhi, which did well at the box office.

Atharvaa's Eetti, a sports drama film produced by S. Michael Rayappan, in which he pairs up with Sri Divya and the thriller Kanithan in which he features alongside Catherine Tresa, these films also hit well 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.[9] In 2017, Gemini Ganeshanum Suruli Raajanum was released, starring the movie along with Aishwarya Rajesh, Regina Cassandra, Pranitha and Aaditi Pohankar.[10]

A mystery thriller movie, Imaikkaa Nodigal, was released in 2018 in which he acted as Nayanthara's brother (Arjun). He received major fame and recognition for this movie.[11] In March 2019, Boomerang, featuring alongside Megha Akash, was released to average reviews.[12] In September 2019, Atharvaa made his Telugu debut in the film Gaddalakonda Ganesh.[13]