after the success of "kadhalar dhinam", kunal appeared in a series of movies like "pesadha kannum pesume" (2002) and "nanbanin kadhali" (2007). his other three box office successes were "paarvai ondre podhume" (2001), "punnagai desam" (2002), which has tharun kumar portraying the lead protagonist and "devathaiyai kanden" (2005), with the latter 2 films featuring him in the supporting protagonistic roles. several of his other films had delayed releases or were shelved, like rithik's "kadhalithal anandam", which would have featured him alongside livingston and kausalya. when he was unable to find roles as an actor, he served as assistant editor for several films and turned to producing.