Abhinav edited and directed several short films before serving as an assistant director to Vineeth Sreenivasan for the Malayalam film Thira (2013).[5][6] His feature film debut came with Tamil-Malayalam bilingualVaayai Moodi Pesavum (2014), as the editor.[1] The film, which was Dulquer Salmaan's first Tamil release, received positive reviews and was a success.[3] S.Rajasekar of Cinemalead, in his review wrote "Debut editor Abhinav Sundar Nayak's editing is flawless and he is a welcome addition to the promising feature film editors of Kollywood".[7]
In 2022, he made his film directorial debut with Mukundan Unni Associates. He also co-wrote and co-edited the film with Vimal Gopalakrishnan and Nidhin Raj Arol respectively. The film starred his longtime collaborator Vineeth Sreenivasan, as the lead with a supporting cast of Suraj Venjaramoodu, Aarsha Chandini Baiju, Sudhi Koppa and Tanvi Ram. It premiered on November 11, 2022, to a positive response from audiences and critics alike and was a moderate box-office success.[10] Princy Alexander of OnManorama wrote "Mukundan Unni is delightfully deceptive.The director and writer Abhinav Sunder Nayak and co-writer Vimal Gopalakrishnan have to be credited."[11] Jose K George of The Week praised the film, saying "It is refreshing to see filmmakers not falling into the trap of shouldering the moral responsibility to make a movie the monolith of morality."[12]
In 2023, Abhinav expressed his interest in developing a sequel to Mukundan Unni Associates.[13] He is presently working on Althaf Salim's sophomore film Odum Kuthira Chadum Kuthira as its editor.[14] In May 2024, he announced his next film called Mollywood Times, with a quirky tagline - 'A hate letter to cinema', produced by Aashiq Usman, set to release in 2025.[15]
