Gautham Menon had previously shown interest in directing Atharvaa for a film. Atharvaa consequently took a break to spend time with his family, before beginning work on a different venture. However, a month after Baana Kaathadi's release, his father Murali died after suffering cardiac arrest. The success of the film prompted Murali to begin pre-production on a Tamil and Kannada language bilingual film which would feature Atharvaa. He subsequently gained recognition at the Edison Awards for Best Debut Actor, while also receiving a nomination from the Vijay Awards in the same category.
Similarly a critic from added "romance is a cake-walk" for the actor, drawing comparison with his father's performances in romantic roles, though noted "his dialogue delivery is a little too melodramatic". The film, which also had Murali making a special appearance, released in August 2010 with critics mostly praising his debut performance with writing he "makes a promising debut and he dances and emotes well". Portraying a youngster from the Royapuram slum area, he stayed in the locality for forty-five days to learn about the lifestyle, while he also learned to fly a kite for the film, canning scenes at the Gujarat Kite Festival. Titled Baana Kaathadi, the film launched in March 2009 and had Atharvaa pair up with fellow rookie actress Samantha.
In 2009, his father found him an offer to play the lead role in a film to be produced by Sathya Jyothi Films and directed by Badri Venkatesh. Atharvaa receiving Best Actor – Tamil Award at the 61st Filmfare Awards South from Samantha Ruth Prabhu for his performance in the film Paradesi (2013)