Murali Krishna is an Indian film director who has worked on Tamil language films. He is best known for making romantic films in the early 2000s, and gained acclaim for Paarvai Ondre Podhume (2001). His third film, Thirudiya Idhayathai (2005), was shot within seventeen days and featured Kunal in the lead role again with newcomers Rohan and Shubha Poonja. He then worked on the romance film, Balam (2009) with a lead pair of newcomers, which opened to negative reviews. A critic from Rediff.com criticised the director for failing to make use of experienced artistes like Rahman, Suhasini and Santhanam in the film.