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Mugur Sundar
Born
Mugur Sundara

(1935-10-31) 31 October 1935 (age 89)
Muguru, Mysore, Mysore State, India
Other names Sundaram
Occupation Choreographer, Film director, Actor
Children

Mugur Sundar (born 31 October 1935) is a famous dance choreographer, film director, and actor. He has worked mostly in South Indian cinema.

Early Life and Family

Mugur Sundar was born in Muguru. This village is in the Mysore district of Karnataka, India.

He has three sons who are also very well-known. They are Prabhu Deva, Raju Sundaram, and Nagendra Prasad. All three are successful dance masters. They have also worked in Kollywood films as actors. Prabhu Deva is also a very successful film director.

His Amazing Career

Sundar started his career working at Chandamama Press in Chennai. He earned a small salary of Rs.40 per month. He loved dancing and learned it by paying Rs.10.

In 1962, he got his first big chance. He became a group dancer in the movie Konjum Salangai. After that, he worked as an assistant to a dance master named Thangappan for four years.

Becoming a Top Choreographer

Mugur Sundar joined the film industry in the late 1970s. He became very active in the early 1980s. He was a very busy choreographer throughout the 1980s. He worked with almost all the top actors of that time.

Some of his early films as a choreographer include Aarada Gaaya (1980), Preethisi Nodu, and Keralida Simha. He continued to work in the film industry until the mid-2000s. In his career, which lasted about three decades, he choreographed dances for around 1000 movies!

Other Film Roles

Besides choreography, Sundar also took on other roles in films.

Directing Films

In 2001, he directed his first Kannada film. It was called Manasella Neene. This movie was a remake of a Telugu film. His son, Nagendra Prasad, played a main role in this film.

Acting in Movies

Sundar has also appeared as an actor in some films. He had a special guest role in the Kannada film Thabbali (2009). He also choreographed a song for that movie. Later, he appeared in Jani (2017) as a guest. In 2010, he played the main character in the Tamil film Pa. Ra. Palanisamy.

Television Appearances

Mugur Sundar has also been a judge on popular dance shows on television.

He was one of the judges on the famous dance show AATA 4. This show was broadcast on Zee Telugu, a Telugu language channel. He also judged Vijay TV's popular show Jodi No.1. He was also a judge on Jodi No.1 Season Two. On these shows, television artists competed in dance. His fellow judges included Silambarasan and Sangeetha.

Filmography

Year Film Role Language Notes
2007 Shankar Dada Zindabad Old man in old age home Telugu
2009 Thabbali Himself Kannada guest appearance
2010 Pa. Ra. Palanisamy Pa. Ra. Palanisamy Tamil
2012 Genius Himself Telugu guest appearance in Chirigina Notu song
2017 Jani Himself Kannada guest appearance

Awards and Recognition

Mugur Sundar has received many important awards for his work in films.

National Film Awards
  • He won the National Film Award for Best Choreography in 1993. This was for his excellent work in the movie Thiruda Thiruda.
Filmfare Awards South
  • He received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South in 1999. This award honors his long and successful career.
Nandi Awards
  • He won the Nandi Award for Best Choreographer for Geethanjali in 1989.
  • He won the Nandi Award for Best Choreographer again for Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari in 1990.
Vijay Awards
  • He received the Vijay Award for Contribution to Tamil Cinema in 2010.
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