Director Bala and Muthumalar's 18-year marriage has ended. They have divorced with mutual consent.

Bala and Muthumalar Divorce
Bala and Muthumalar Divorce.Twitter

Lived Separately for Years
As per the reports, a family court granted divorce for Bala and Muthumalar on March 5. The former couple had been living separately for over four years and eventually decided to break their marriage.

The news of their divorce has come as a shock as the fans had not seen it coming. Bala had tied the knot with Muthumalar in 2004 in a traditional ceremony. They have a daughter named Prarthana.

In recent history, there are a few notable marriages that have ended in divorce.

Celeb Divorces
Notably, Samantha parted ways with Naga Chaitanya to end their four-year marriage. Also, Dhanush and Aishwarya Rajinikanth announced their separation a few months ago.

Bala and Muthumalar Divorce
Bala and Muthumalar Divorce.Twitter

On Work Front
Coming back to Bala, the director is hoping to bounce back with his next flick with Suriya. The National Award-winning filmmaker suffered a major setback a few years ago after he was unceremoniously removed as a director from the Tamil remake of Telugu blockbuster Arjun Reddy.

It was a debut movie of Vikram's son Dhruva. As the makers were not happy with the output, Bala was thrown out of the film and replaced with another filmmaker.

It was seen as an insult to a man, who had delivered movies like Sethu, Pithamagan, and Naan Kadavaul.

Now, Bala is gearing up for Suriya's next movie. The director has completed the script work much earlier than predicted and the song composing for 4-5 is also over.

Reportedly, Suriya will be seen as deaf and dumb in the film, which will be funded by his 2D Entertainment.