AR Murugadoss tonsures head at Murugan temple, prays for Madharaasi's success: ‘Feels like my 1st film again’

After the release of his Sivakarthikeyan-starrer Madharaasi, director AR Murugadoss shaved his head at the Murugan temple in Palani, here's why.

Filmmaker AR Murugadoss’s Sivakarthikeyan-starrer Madharaasi was released in theatres on 5 September. A couple of days after the film’s release, the director tonsured his head at the Murugan temple in Palani, Tamil Nadu. In an interview with Post-cut Clarity, he spoke about why he did that, comparing Madharaasi to his first film. Here’s what he said.

AR Murugadoss tonsures head at Murugan temple

AR Murugadoss's action drama Madharaasi stars Sivakarthikeyan in the lead role.

Murugadoss was asked in the interview why he shaved his head after Madharaasi’s release. He replied, “I went to the Palani Murugan temple after Madharaasi’s release. I remember going there after my first film, Dheena, and would go there once in a while afterwards. It was important for me to do that because, in a sense, this feels like my first film again. It’s very important to me. I asked God for this movie to succeed.”

He then mentioned the five-year gap in his filmography after the 2020 Rajinikanth-starrer Darbar, claiming that the COVID-19 pandemic made him nervous. “I couldn’t think straight for a year during the COVID-19 pandemic. People like me can only think of limited things at once, and back then, it felt like another World War. We didn’t even know how long it would last. It took me five years to bounce back, and I had two films that didn’t materialise, creating a gap,” he explained.

AR Murugadoss’s filmography