[10] In 1993, he starred in S. Shankar's blockbuster Gentleman which opened to positive reviews, while Arjun went on to win the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor.

He was then featured in Vasanth's romantic drama film Rhythm, where he played a photographer, who eventually falls in love with a widow.

[19] Arjun was born as Srinivasa Sarja on 15 August 1962 to Kannada actor Shakti Prasad,[20] and Lakshmi, an art teacher.

[21] Inspired by Bruce Lee's 1973 film Enter the Dragon, Arjun began training in Karate at the age of 16[22] and now holds a black belt.

[28] She married Umapathy Ramaiah on 10 June 2024 in an intimate ceremony at Arjun's Sri Yoga Anjaneyar Temple in Gerugambakkam, Chennai.

In Tamil, his successful films during the period included Shankar Guru (1987), Thaimel Aanai (1988), Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu (1989) and Sonthakkaran (1989), Thangaikku Oru Thalattu (1990) and Thanga Thamaraigal (1991).

Portraying an ambitious TV journalist who receives the opportunity to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for a day, Arjun offered bulk dates for filming the project to Shankar.

[42] Arjun then briefly experimented in softer roles, portraying critically acclaimed characters of businessman with "shades of grey" in Prabhu Solomon's Kannodu Kanbathellam (1999) and as an energetic civil service officer in Vaanavil (2000).

Featuring a popular soundtrack and opening to positive reviews, Rhythm also became a commercial success, with a critic noting "Arjun is as polished as ever" and adding "who would have conceived this idea that the "action king" could attempt a soft-natured role of this kind".

The image of "action king" made him popular with town and village centre audiences, who appreciated the actor's fight and stunt scenes.

Some of his films, Giri (2004) and Marudhamalai (2007), were box office successes, with several of his projects were not, including Madrasi (2006), Vathiyar (2006) and Durai (2008), in all of which he was the story writer.

[47] In 2011, Arjun accepted the opportunity to act alongside Ajith Kumar in Venkat Prabhu's action thriller Mankatha, with critics praising his performance as a police officer in the blockbuster.

Portraying a middle-class father with a deaf and dumb son, Arjun noted it was a rewarding experience for him to break the monotony of his standard roles and attempt something different, admitting he was moved by the script.

[49] Arjun collaborated with Mani Ratnam with Kadal (2013), in which the actor portrayed a negative role of a smuggler in coastal Tamil Nadu.

[52] In 2016, he played a realistic police officer in Bharathiraja's critically acclaimed Final Cut of Director (dubbed in Tamil as Bommalattam), where a reviewer felt his "showcase of the soft, subtle yet unrelenting cop was noteworthy".

[55] The film won positive reviews, with a critic noting that Arjun "looks stylish and suave as the fit and honest officer, and excels in a couple of action blocks he gets".

[61] He played the role of a warrior called Anandan in the epic historical action Malayalam film, Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea (2021) directed by Priyadarshan.

In this investigation, all crew members of this film said there was no such incident that happened on the sets and director Arun Vaidyanathan who was named as the eye-witness in the case, said Arjun Sarja is a nice person.