M. Muthaiah

Muthiah moved to Chennai from Srivilliputhur in Virudhunagar to make movies, and debuted with the rural drama Kutti Puli (2013) starring Sasikumar. Kutti Puli did not receive favourable reviews from the media, but went on to perform well at the box office.[2] Muthaiah moved on to make Komban (2015), a story set in the Ramanathapuram district, about Kombaiah Pandian, a butcher played by Karthi, and his relationship with his father-in-law, played by Rajkiran. The director, inspired by the egotistical tussles between his father and his grandmother, scripted the story straight from his own experiences.[2] The release of Komban was mired by controversy when protesters claimed that the story revolved around animosity between different thevar caste groups and that it therefore had the potential to incite violence in southern districts of Tamil Nadu. After a brief legal battle, the film opened to positive reviews and did well commercially.[3] Following the success of the film, he made Marudhu (2016) featuring Vishal and Sridivya in the lead roles. In 2017, Muthaiah reunited with Sasikumar to make another rural drama film titled Kodiveeran. Prior to the release of the film, the film's producer committed suicide due to financial problems.[4]

In January 2018, he began work on Devarattam, a second film with Studio Green, which would feature brother and sisters relationship with Gautham Karthik in the lead role. It was released on 1 May 2019. Overall, Devarattam is an average rural action entertainer with routine elements which may work for audiences in Madurai, Tirunelveli and surrounding areas.[5] The director has followed his same successful style in Pulikkuthi Pandi (2021), and it will be a distinct one for Vikram Prabhu and Lakshmi Menon comparing their previous film. Pulikkuthi Pandi is Lakshmi Menon's third film under Muthaih's direction, and the film will also mark the actress comeback on big screens after four years of the film Pulikkuthi Pandi.[6] It has been officially announced will be released live on Sun TV on 15 January 2021.[7]

• M. Muthaiah at IMDb