Arunraja Kamaraj's life has revolved around cricket. The multi-hyphenate's life, which began on June 15, 1985, in Perur, a small village near Kulithalai, has been defined by cricket. After completing school in Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Kulithalai, and engineering in JJ College of Engineering and Technology, Trichy, he began his career by assissting director Nelson in Vettai Mannan, which was later shelved.
He became a familiar face in Tamil cinema for his early comedic roles in Raja Rani (2013) and in Maan Karate (2014), and later in Maragadha Naanayam (2017).
Arunraja later began writing lyrics and singing for films, starting with Pizza, which began his collaboration with Santhosh Narayanan. From this collaboration came 'Neruppu Da' from Kabali, which was written by Arunraja in 20 mins. Arunraja was tasked to capture the essence of a righteous gangster, and was even asked to sing horribly, by Santhosh. Arunraja has later sang, or wrote, or did both, on hit songs like 'Dub Theri Step' (Theri), 'Varlaam Varlaam Vaa' (Bairavaa), and the 2023 viral hit 'Kaavaalaa' (Jailer). Overall, Arunraja has written the lyrics for over 45 songs and has performed as a singer on more than 20 tracks.
While being a writer, singer, lyricist, actor and a director, Arunraja Kamaraj, for his antics on the cricket field, was fondly called as Tikolo, after the Kenyan all-rounder of the same.
Steve Tikolo was the captain of the Kenyan side, and was part of the teams in South African domestic league. He is currently working as a coach, for the Nigerian team.
Arunraja's first film as a director was Kanaa (2018), which was about a young woman, who aspires to represent the Indian side, against all odds. But the film, apart from being about cricket, was a more personal affair for the director as his college mates from JJ College of Engineering, Sivakarthikeyan and Dhibu Ninan Thomas, produced the film and composed music, respectively. Sivakarthikeyan also essayed the role of cricket coach, Nelson Dilipkumar, in the film.
But Arunraja's first tryst with filmmaking wasn't with Kanaa, it was in reality television. Beyond appearing on shows like Kalakkappovathu Yaru Champions, Kalakkappovathu Yaru 4, and Kitchen Khilladigal, it was in Naalaya Iyakkunar, where he won awards for his short film.
The director next made Nenjukku Needhi, a remake of Article 15, starring Udhayanidhi Stalin in the lead. The film follows a newly appointed police officer, who is tasked in investigating caste-based crimes.
With Label (2023), Arunraja made his first foray into streaming and the series format. The crime drama, with Jai in the lead, is streaming on JioHotstar.
Arunraj meanwhile is collaborating with Vishnu Vishal for his next directorial. The film, which is produced by Vels International, is currently in the pre-production stage.
