He received the National Film Award for Best Child Artist in 1991, for his work in Mani Ratnam's Anjali, which was India's official entry to the Oscars for that year. Tarun won critical acclaim with the Malayalam children's film, Abhayam (1991), which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film for that year, and Tarun won the Best Child artist Award at the Furoshiki Film Festival in Japan. As a child artist, Tarun starred in super hits such as Manasu Mamatha (1990), Surya IPS (1991), Aditya 369 (1991), Teja (1992), My Dear Muthachan (1992), and Johny (1993).

After a seven-year break, Tarun was the lead actor in the blockbuster Nuvve Kavali in 2000, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu for that year, and Tarun won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – South for his work in the film.[5][6] He then starred in successful films such as Priyamaina Neeku (2001), Nuvvu Leka Nenu Lenu (2002), Nuvve Nuvve (2002), Punnagai Desam (2002) (Tamil), Ninne Istapaddanu (2003), Ela Cheppanu (2003), Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu (2003), Sakhiya (2004), Bhale Dongalu (2008), Sasirekha Parinayam (2009), Chukkalanti Ammayi Chakkanaina Abbayi (2013), Yuddham (2014), and Idhi Naa Love Story (2018), and established himself as one of the successful actors of Telugu cinema.