Karthik Subbaraj | |
|---|---|
 Karthik at Iraivi Press Meet in 2016 | |
| Born | March 19, 1983 Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Alma mater | Thiagarajar College of Engineering |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Spouse | Sathya Prema (m. 2011) |
| Relatives | Gajaraj (Father) |
Karthik Subbaraj (born 19 March 1983) is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter working mainly in Tamil cinema.
Karthik did his schooling in SBOA Matriculation and Higher Secondary School, Madurai after which he went on to study mechatronics at Thiagarajar College of Engineering. During his college days he performed stage shows and skits. [2] His father, Gajaraj, is an actor who has acted in many supporting roles in films like Mundasupatti and Kabali . [3]
He made the short film "Kaatchipizhai" in Madurai, which was selected for Nalaya Iyakunar. [4]
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 . The film was a commercial success, remade in Hindi, Bengali and Kannada. [5] This allowed him the opportunity to make Jigarthanda, which received positive reviews and earned actor Bobby Simha a national award. [6] Subbaraj was praised by S. Shankar and Mani Ratnam. [7] [8]
His third movie, Iraivi (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 gothrough from the producer of his second film, through the character of S. J. Suryah. He then went on and directed a silent thriller, Mercury (2018), starring Prabhu Deva in the lead, which was not a commercial success. [9] He produced Kallachirippu , a web series under his banner Stone Bench Creations. [10]
Subbaraj directed the action drama Petta (2019) with Rajinikanth's 166th film. He also produced the Amazon original movie Penguin starring Keerthy Suresh in the lead role. [11] He then produced the Hotstar Originals web series Triples starring Jai and Vani Bhojan. [12]
He then directed Miracle, a short film for the Amazon Prime anthology film Putham Pudhu Kaalai (2020), [13] and Peace, an episode for the Netflix anthology web series Navarasa (2021). [14] 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. [15] In 2023, he went on to direct Jigarthanda DoubleX .
Vivek MV of Deccan Herald notes that Karthik's directorial films usually have plot twists, needledropping of songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja, and flamboyance inspired by Quentin Tarantino's films. 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. [17]
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Pizza | Debut film | |
| 2014 | Jigarthanda | ||
| 2015 | Bench Talkies | Segment: Neer | |
| 2016 | Iraivi | ||
| 2018 | Mercury | ||
| 2019 | Petta | ||
| 2020 | Putham Pudhu Kaalai | Segment: Miracle Released on Amazon Prime Video | |
| 2021 | Jagame Thandhiram | Released on Netflix | [18] |
| Navarasa | Netflix original series; segment: Peace | [14] | |
| 2022 | Mahaan | Released on Amazon Prime Video | [15] |
| 2023 | Jigarthanda DoubleX | Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award for Best Director | [19] [20] |
| 2025 | Retro † | Post-production | |
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Aviyal | ||
| 2017 | Meyaadha Maan | ||
| 2018 | Kallachirippu | ZEE5 original series | |
| 2020 | Penguin | Released on Amazon Prime Video | |
| Triples | Hotstar original series | ||
| 2021 | Boomika | Released on Star Vijay & Netflix | [21] |
| 2022 | Attention Please | Malayalam film; as presenter | [22] |
| Buffoon | |||
| Ammu | Telugu film released on Amazon Prime Video | [23] | |
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writer | ||||
| 2024 | Game Changer | Story | Telugu Film | |
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| Santhosh Narayanan |  | | | | | | | | |
| Gajaraj | | | | | | | | ||
| Vivek Harshan | | | | | | | |||
| Bobby Simha | | | | | | ||||
| Ramachandran Durairaj | | | | | | | |||
| Aadukalam Naren | | | | | | ||||
| Sananth | | | | (uncredited) | |||||
| Vijay Sethupathi | | (cameo) | | | |||||
| Vettai Muthukumar | | | | ||||||
| Deepak Paramesh | | | | | |||||
| Karunakaran | | | | | |||||
| S. J. Suryah | | | |||||||
| Joju George | | | |||||||
| Nassar | | |
Siddharth Suryanarayan, known mononymously as Siddharth, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi language films. Apart from acting, he has also been involved in films as a screenwriter, producer and playback singer. He has also been featured in many advertisements. He is a recipient of three Filmfare Awards South and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award.
YNOT Studios is an Indian film production company in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, established by producer S. Sashikanth. As of 2023, the company has produced 21 feature films, which includes productions made in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi film industries of India. It has collaborated with filmmakers including Sudha Kongara, Balaji Mohan, Pushkar–Gayathri and Karthik Subbaraj.
Santhosh Narayanan is an Indian film composer and musician who has worked predominately worked in Tamil cinema, while also having some Telugu and Malayalam films to his credit.
Jigarthanda (transl. Cold-heart) is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language crime comedy film written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by S. Kathiresan. The film stars Bobby Simha, Siddharth, Lakshmi Menon, Karunakaran, Guru Somasundaram and Aadukalam Naren. Gavemic U. Ary was the cinematographer, making his debut in Tamil cinema, and Vivek Harshan was the editor. Santhosh Narayanan composed the songs and background score.
Jayasimha, better known as Bobby Simha, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films. After making brief appearances in the films Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi and Pizza (2012), he portrayed a kidnapper in Nalan Kumarasamy's Soodhu Kavvum and a comic villain in Alphonse Putharen's Neram. Simha's subsequent performance as the Madurai gangster Sethu in Karthik Subbaraj's Jigarthanda (2014) won him critical acclaim and the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Rajakumar is an Indian actor, who has worked in Tamil films. Rajakumar debuted in Balaji Tharaneetharan's critically acclaimed Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (2012), Rajakumar has since appeared in pivotal roles in films including Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham (2013) and Naalu Policeum Nalla Irundha Oorum (2015).
Joseph "Joju" George, is an Indian actor, playback singer, director and producer who primarily works in Malayalam cinema.
Aishwarya Lekshmi is an Indian actress and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil films. She has received one Filmfare Award South, one Kerala Film Critics Association Award and three SIIMA Awards.
Vani Bhojan is an Indian actress, who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films. She made her Telugu film debut with Meeku Maathrame Cheptha in 2019 and her Tamil film debut with Oh My Kadavule in 2020.
Jagame Thandhiram is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by YNOT Studios together with Reliance Entertainment. The film stars Dhanush, James Cosmo, Joju George, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Kalaiyarasan. It marks the Indian film debut of Cosmo and the Tamil debut of Joju George. The film follows Suruli, a gangster from Madurai, who is recruited to help Peter Sprott, a British crime lord, to take down a rival, but later gets caught off guard by the moral dilemmas that follow.
Chakravarthy Ramachandra is an Indian film producer who has worked on Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam-language films. After beginning his career as an independent producer, he joined YNOT Studios as its CEO.
Putham Pudhu Kaalai is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language anthology film, consisting of five short film segments, directed by Sudha Kongara, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Suhasini Maniratnam, Rajiv Menon, and Karthik Subbaraj. The film features an ensemble cast of Jayaram, Kalidas Jayaram, Shruti Haasan, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Andrea Jeremiah, Bobby Simha, M. S. Bhaskar, Ritu Varma, Urvashi, Suhasini Maniratnam, Anu Haasan, Kathadi Ramamurthy, Komalam Charuhasan, Gurucharan C, Leela Samson, Sharath Ravi and Vettai Muthukumar among others. The film was entirely shot during the COVID-19 pandemic in India and was set against the backdrop of the country's 21-day lockdown in March 2020. The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on 16 October 2020. A sequel titled Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa released in 2022.
Navarasa is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language anthology television series created by Mani Ratnam, who also collaborated with Jayendra Panchapakesan to produce it through their newly formed banner Justickets. The series features nine stand-alone episodes based on the Indian concept of the Navarasas, filmed by Priyadarshan, Karthik Subbaraj, Vasanth, Arvind Swami, Bejoy Nambiar, Karthick Naren, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Sarjun KM and Rathindran R. Prasad. It comprises an ensemble cast of Suriya, Vijay Sethupathi, Siddharth, Revathi, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Prayaga Martin, Arvind Swamy, Prasanna, Poorna, Delhi Ganesh, Rohini, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Yogi Babu, Manikuttan, Remya Nambeesan, Aditi Balan, Bobby Simha, Riythvika, Sree Raam, Atharvaa, Nedumudi Venu, Anjali and Kishore, amongst others.
Jagame Thandhiram is the eleven-song soundtrack album composed by Santhosh Narayanan for the 2021 Tamil film of the same name, starring Dhanush and directed by Karthik Subbaraj. Continuing his association with Subbaraj after Anirudh Ravichander being roped in for Petta, the film also marks Santhosh's third collaboration with Dhanush after Kodi, Vada Chennai and Karnan. The album which featured lyrics written by Vivek, Dhanush, Arivu, Anthony Daasan and Madurai Babaraj was released by Sony Music India on 6 June 2021.
Mahaan is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by S. S. Lalit Kumar under Seven Screen Studio. It stars Vikram and Dhruv Vikram, alongside Simran, Bobby Simha, Sananth, Vettai Muthukumar, Deepak Paramesh and Aadukalam Naren. The film revolves around Gandhi Mahaan's journey from a commerce teacher to a liquor baron, but his journey takes a twist when his son Dadabhai Naoroiji, an extremist Gandhian, vows revenge on Gandhi Mahaan for violating the Gandhian principles and abandoning his family.
Teejay Arunasalam is British playback singer and actor who has worked in Indian cinema, particularly Tamil language films. After making his acting debut in the Tamil film Asuran (2019) alongside Dhanush, he has also appeared in significant roles in Thatrom Thookrom (2020), anthology web series Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa (2022), and in Pathu Thala (2023) with Silambarasan.
Joseph George, better known as Joju George, is an Indian actor, playback singer and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. His directorial debut, Pani, is announced for sometime in 2024.
Stone Bench Creations is an Indian film production company based in Chennai, India. It was established in 2016 by Indian director Karthik Subbaraj. As of 2023, the company has produced 16 feature films, including productions made in the Tamil and Malayalam film industries. It has collaborated and been produced with filmmakers including Rathna Kumar, Karthik Subbaraj, Ponram, Ashok Veerappan and Malayalam film director Jithin Issac Thomas. The production company made its debut with the film Bench Talkies. Stone Bench also produced more than five original content for the streaming services Netflix, Amazon Prime, ZEE5, Disney+ Hotstar and SonyLIV. Stone Bench also presents other language films in Tamil Nadu, including 777 Charlie.
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 Creations and Invenio Origin. The film is a prequel to Jigarthanda (2014) and stars Raghava Lawrence, S. J. Suryah, Nimisha Sajayan, Ilavarasu, Sathyan, Naveen Chandra, Shine Tom Chacko and Aravind Akash. Set in the 1970s, it revolves around an upcoming policeman trying to kill a gangster by going undercover as a filmmaker.
Retro is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language romantic action film written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj. It is produced by Stone Bench Creations and 2D Entertainment. The film stars Suriya and Pooja Hegde in the lead roles, alongside Jayaram, Joju George, Karunakaran, Nassar, Prakash Raj, Sujith Shankar, Prem Kumar, Ramachandran Durairaj, Remya Suresh and George Maryan.
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