G. Marimuthu

In 1988[2] or 1990,[3] G. Marimuthu left home from the village of Pasumalaitheri in Theni and headed to Chennai to become a film director. He hailed from a family background whose livelihood was primarily linked with agriculture.[4] He was interested in entering film industry after watching Bharathiraja's directorial Muthal Mariyathai which had its theatrical release in 1985. He was inspired to enter film industry also due to the fact that the crew members of Muthal Mariyathai including director Bharathiraja, music composer Ilaiyaraaja and lyricist Vairamuthu were hailing from Theni district as it was Marimuthu's birthplace. Prior to his ambition of entering into film industry, he pursued his higher studies at an engineering college in Sivakasi.[5]

After initially working as a waiter in hotels, he became acquainted with lyricist Vairamuthu through their common interest in literature, before becoming an assistant director with Rajkiran for his films Aranmanai Kili (1993) and Ellame En Rasathan (1995).[3] In an interview with Sun TV, he revealed that he wanted to work as an assistant director with Bharathiraja, but insisted that since he was being an outsider he was often ignored and highlighted that those who enter into industry with nepotism and some sort of connection could get a chance to work as assistant director to Bharathiraja.[6]

Marimuthu then continued to work as an assistant director with filmmakers such as Mani Ratnam, Vasanth, Seeman, Rajiv Menon and S. J. Surya, before co-directing Silambarasan's film Manmadhan (2004).[7] He notably worked as an assistant director for Aasai (1995), Nerrukku Ner (1997), Vaali (1999), Poovellam Kettuppar (1999), Kushi (2000), Rhythm (2000), Udhaya (2004), New (2004), and Anbe Aaruyire (2005).[8]

Marimuthu made his directorial debut with Kannum Kannum (2008), a romantic film starring Prasanna and Udhayathara. The film did not perform well at the box office but won critical acclaim. The Behindwoods Movie Review Board wrote "G. Marimuthu, debuting with story, screenplay, dialogue and direction has provided us with one of the cleanest, most honest and endearing love stories of recent times".[9] Moviebuzz noted "Marimuthu is a welcome addition to the brave new directors in Tamil cinema, who are trying their best within the commercial format to give a different type of love story".[10] Marimuthu then directed Pulivaal (2014), developing the film's story from the Malayalam film Chaappa Kurishu (2011).[11]

In the 2010s after the failure of his directorial films, he focused on acting and featured in supporting roles in Tamil films. Mysskin introduced him as an actor in Yuddham Sei (2011), in which he played a corrupt police officer. The success of the film prompted him to star in films including Aarohanam (2012), Nimirndhu Nil (2014), and Komban (2015), often featuring as police officer. His performance in Marudhu (2016) prompted Vishal to sign him on to feature in Kaththi Sandai (2016).[12] He also rose to prominence for his acting in Mari Selvaraj's directorial Pariyerum Perumal (2018) which became a cult classic.[13] He also played a minor role in Lokesh Kanagaraj's directorial Vikram (2022). He played negative role in Nelson Dilipkumar's directorial Jailer (2023), which eventually marked his last feature film prior to his untimely death.[14]

He debuted in television serials in 2022 as the main antagonist in Ethirneechal. He was praised for his screen presence, dialogue delivery, punch dialogues and for his natural way of acting in the Ethirneechal serial as Aadhimuthu Gunasekaran.[15]

Marimuthu died on 8 September 2023 due to cardiac arrest.[16][17] The actor was dubbing for the Ethir Neechal when the heart attack occurred.[18][19]

• G. Marimuthu at IMDb