Michael Muthu

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| name = Michael Muthu

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| birth_date = 1968

| birth_place = Chennai, India

| occupation = Director, writer

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Michael Muthu is an Indian director, writer and actor who has worked on theatre productions and films. He is based in Chennai.{{Cite web|url=https://www.indulgexpress.com/entertainment/theater/2017/jun/30/chennai-thespian-michael-muthu-presents-his-latest-production-the-birdcage-2492.html|title=Chennai thespian Michael Muthu presents his latest production, The Birdcage|website=www.indulgexpress.com}}{{Cite web|url=http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2022%20No%203/english-theatre-returns.html|title=Madras Musings - We care for Madras that is Chennai}}{{Cite web |date=27 March 2017 |title=As funds dry up, theatre suffers creative block |url=https://www.dtnext.in/city/2017/03/27/as-funds-dry-up-theatre-suffers-creative-block |access-date=24 November 2022 |website=DT Next}}

Career

Michael Muthu started his career in theatre after finishing his schooling, and was a member of the Loyola Theatre Society during his first two years of college. In 1991, he became the founder of the Chennai-based theatre group, Boardwalkers. He has since worked on productions including God, Biloxi Blues, The Hairy Ape, Sleuth, The Pied Piper of Hamlin, and Jesus Christ Superstar.{{Cite web|url=https://spiritofchennai.com/famous-personality/michael-muthu/|title=Michael Muthu » SpiritOfChennai.com|first=Chennai|last=Falcon|date=17 June 2015 }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/in-guerrila-mode/article33344320.ece|title=Mike Muthu on adapting 'The Burglar's Christmas'|first=Srivatsan|last=S|newspaper=The Hindu|date=16 December 2020|via=www.thehindu.com}} In the early 1990s, he starred alongside M. Night Shyamalan in the director's English film Praying with Anger (1992), while he also played supporting roles in French and Italian productions based in India in the late 1990s.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/interview-with-michael-muthu/article6767990.ece|title='Theatre staves off boredom'|first=Preeti|last=Zachariah|newspaper=The Hindu|date=8 January 2015|via=www.thehindu.com}}

In 2002, Michael began working on directing an English film titled The Girl, and despite it completing production, it was previewed to audiences but not released theatrically as he could not find distributors.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/theatre/The-stage-is-set/article11621534.ece|title=The stage is set|first=Shonali|last=Muthalaly|newspaper=The Hindu|date=9 September 2010|via=www.thehindu.com}} In January 2017, he announced plans to make a bilingual film titled The Way Things Are in English and Theeviram in Tamil, produced by Sameer Bharat Ram. Starring Gokul Anand, Amzath Khan and Arjun Chidambaram in the lead roles, the film was shot in 2017 and the Tamil version had a delayed OTT release on the Simply South platform in November 2020.{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/Theatre-thespian-Michael-Muthu-to-debut-as-film-director-soon/articleshow/53191985.cms|title=Theatre thespian Michael Muthu to debut as film director soon|website=The Times of India |last1=Ravi |first1=Nandita }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.indulgexpress.com/entertainment/theater/2017/may/19/mike-muthu-steps-off-stage-1624.html|title=Mike Muthu steps off stage|website=www.indulgexpress.com}}

In a rare Indian film appearance, he starred in Shankar's 2.0 (2018) as a police officer, working alongside Rajinikanth.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2017/may/12/michael-muthu-now-a-part-of-2o-1604164.html|title=Michael Muthu now a part of 2.o|website=The New Indian Express|date=13 May 2017 }} He also portrayed the role of Sushant Singh Rajput's father in his final film, Dil Bechara (2020).