Marana Simhasanam (Throne of Death, 1999), his first feature film, is a surrealistic treatment of everyday events. It is the simple story of a poor labourer Krishnan who is driven by poverty to steal a bunch of coconuts. He gets caught and becomes the prime accused in a murder and is sentenced to death. With elections round the corner, politicians jump into the fray. Events spiral out of control and Krishnan finds himself in the pathetic position of being the first man in the country to die by electric chair, developed with a loan from the World Bank and fashionable technological assistance from the United States. Ironically, Krishnan dies a hero and a statue is erected in his honour

His second feature film- Oru Pattiyude Divasam (A Dog's Day, 2001) is described as a political fairy tale. It is an indictment of globalisation and privatisation. To quote him, "The increasing tendency of the USA to interfere in the affairs of the second and third world for its own interests of war and trade made me think of a second film."

Umprakkal, the dictator of Tharavilakkadu (also reigning over the neighbouring Tharisuparampu), gifts a dog, Appu, to an elderly couple Koran and Kurumpa, who look after his interests in Tharisuparampu. When the dog bites a boy and the boy dies, there is a social outcry against him. He is branded a rabies-infected agent of Umprakkal. Janakan, the new ruler of Tharisuparampu, takes up the fight against the dog, which now assumes the proportions of an international crisis. Conditions are now set for the lucrative games of war and trade of Umprakkal. How these games destroy the backbone of Tharisuparampu forms the rest of the narrative.

In 1993, he made a short film (eight-minutes), The Tragedy of an Indian Farmer, based on Malayalam poet Changampuzha's poem Ôru Vazhakula. It was his first independent venture and it bagged the national award for the best short film besides being selected for the Indian Panorama in 1993.

His second short film 'Coronations' (six-minutes), 1993, explored the impact of advanced military technology in a third world town. The censor board withheld the film's certificate for a while objecting to the heavy violence in it. But, the film was screened in reputed film festivals in Europe such as Leipzig and Berlin.

Murali's third short film, A Long Journey, premiered at Cannes in 1996 in the short film competition section. It was really with this short film, Murali began to get noticed. The film, made in 1996, depicted the communalisation of our society through the IMAGES of a group of people in a bus-journey. It was screened in the short film section of the Cannes festival becoming the first Indian short film to get the honour. That year, Murali also got an offer in an Indo-Argentine joint venture Unicorn directed by Pablo Caesar.

Murali's approach towards movies is basic and simple. All his films are based in Kerala, his home country, and employs unknown actors and villagers. The shooting would take place in some village houses and the entire film crew staying will stay with the villagers.

"Reacting to his approach to the shooting Murali says that he has never deliberately tried a particular technical device or knowingly experimented with form. He shoots the way he sees it instinctively and then it is up to the viewer really to decide - if he has seen anything new and novel in the film.