Karthik Subbaraj (born 19 March 1983) is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter working mainly in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

Early life

Karthik did his schooling in SBOA Matriculation and Higher Secondary School, Madurai after which he went on to study

mechatronics Mechatronics engineering, also called mechatronics, is the synergistic integration of mechanical, electrical, and computer systems employing mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering and computer engineering, and also ...

Thiagarajar College of Engineering Thiagarajar College of Engineering (TCE) is an Government-aided autonomous institution located in Thiruparankundram, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is affiliated to Anna University, Madurai. History Thiagarajar College of Engineering is one of ...

. During his college days he performed stage shows and skits. His father, Gajaraj, is an actor who has acted in many supporting roles in films like ''

Mundasupatti ''Mundasupatti'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language historical comedy film written and directed by Ram Kumar, and produced by C. V. Kumar under his banner Thirukumaran Entertainment and Fox Star Studios. It stars Vishnu Vishal and Nandita Swet ...

'' and ''

Kabali ''Kabali'' is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Pa. Ranjith and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu under V Creations. The film stars Rajinikanth, Winston Chao, Radhika Apte, Sai Dhanshika, Kishore, Dinesh Ravi, Kalaiyar ...

''. He made the short film ''Kaatchipizhai'' in Madurai, which was selected for ''Nalaya Iyakunar''.

Career

Karthik had intended to direct '' Jigarthanda'' first but could not fund the project. He then came up with the story for the low-budget ''

Pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

''. The film was a commercial success, remade in Hindi, Bengali and Kannada. This allowed him the opportunity to make ''Jigarthanda'', which received positive reviews and earned actor

Bobby Simha Jayasimha (born 6 November 1983), better known as Bobby Simha, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu cinema, Telugu films. After making brief appearances in the films ''Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi'' an ...

a national award. Subbaraj was praised by

S. Shankar Shankar Shanmugam (born 17 August 1963) is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter, primarily known for his work in Tamil cinema. Known as one of the most prominent directors in the history of Indian cinema, he has also worked in H ...

and

Mani Ratnam Gopalaratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. H ...

. His third movie, ''

Iraivi Iraivi () is a 2016 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language crime drama film written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by C. V. Kumar, K. E. Gnanavel Raja and Abinesh Elangovan under their banners Thirukumaran Entertainment, Studio Gree ...

'' (2016), received positive reviews, and Subbaraj was praised for the film's portrayal of society's treatment of women. The movie also observed the various ways men's attitudes and behaviors impact women throughout life. He also showcased the pain he went through from the producer of his second film, through the character of

S. J. Suryah Selvaraj Justin Pandian (born 20 July 1968), known by his stage name S. J. Suryah, is an Indian actor, film director, producer, playback singer, writer and philanthropist who predominantly works in Tamil films and in few Telugu films. He sought t ...

. He then went on and directed a silent thriller, '' Mercury'' (2018), starring

Prabhu Deva Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu language films also appeared in few Kannada and Malayal ...

in the lead, which was not a commercial success. He produced ''

Kallachirippu ''Kallachirippu'' () is a 2018 Indian Tamil language streaming television series. It has a non-linear narrative structure provided and is hosted by Zee5, a video on demand platform. The series was directed by Rohit Nandakumar and produced by po ...

'', a web series under his banner Stone Bench Creations. Subbaraj directed the action drama '' Petta'' (2019) with

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 170 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, ...

's 166th film. He also produced the Amazon original movie ''

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

'' starring

Keerthy Suresh Keerthy Suresh (born 17 October 1992) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu and Malayalam Cinema, Malayalam films. Her film accolades include one National Film Award, five South Indian In ...

in the lead role. He then produced the Hotstar Originals web series ''

Triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

'' starring Jai and

Vani Bhojan Vani Bhojan (born 28 October 1988) is an Indian actress, who predominantly appears in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. She made her Telugu film debut with ''Meeku Maathrame Cheptha'' in 2019 and her Tamil film debut with ''Oh My Kadavule'' in 2020. ...

. He then directed Miracle, a short film for the Amazon Prime anthology film '' Putham Pudhu Kaalai'' (2020), and Peace, an episode for the Netflix anthology web series ''

Navarasa Indian art evolved with an emphasis on inducing special spiritual or philosophical states in the audience, or with representing them symbolically. Rasas in the performing arts The theory of rasas still forms the aesthetic underpinning of a ...

'' (2021). In 2021, Karthik directed '' Jagame Thandhiram'', which received mixed reviews. He next film was the Vikram starrer '' Mahaan'' (2022) which was directly premiered on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

. In 2023, he went on to direct ''

Jigarthanda DoubleX ''Jigarthanda DoubleX'' is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj and jointly produced by him, Kaarthekeyen Santhanam, S. Kathiresan and Alankar Pandian under Stone Bench Films, Five Star Creati ...

''. He then directed ''Retro'', starring

Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known professionally as Suriya, is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Tamil films. One of the highest-paid Tamil actors, Suriya is considered as one of the finest actors of Indian ...

and

Pooja Hegde Pooja Hegde ( born 13 October 1990) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. One of the highest-paid actresses of South Indian cinema, Hegde is a recipient of four SIIMA Awards along with three Filmfare Awar ...

. It opened to positive reviews from critics praising his direction and storytelling. The film became a commercial success at box office.

Filmmaking style

Some critics note that Karthik's directorial films usually have

plot twists A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist ending or surprise ending. It may change ...

, needledropping of songs composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

, flamboyance inspired by

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

's films, and the inclusion of real-life world events and politics in the form of messaging. Karthik, however, has stated that he prefers not to associate with any particular filmmaking style as he seeks to reinvent himself with every new film, noting how he intentionally avoided including a plot twist in ''Jagame Thandhiram'', which disappointed some audiences.

Filmography

As a director

As a producer and writer

Frequent collaborators

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Subbaraj, Karthik Living people 21st-century Indian people Artists from Madurai Tamil film directors 1983 births