Karthi (born Karthik Sivakumar; 25 May 1977) is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. The younger son of the veteran actor Sivakumar and brother of the star Suriya, he trained as an engineer and worked as an assistant director before making one of the most acclaimed acting debuts in Tamil film, in Paruthiveeran (2007). He is known for moving between rural dramas, police thrillers and comedy, and for his films Kaithi and Ponniyin Selvan.
Quick Facts
| Birth name | Karthik Sivakumar |
| Born | 25 May 1977, Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu |
| Age | 49 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Known for | Paruthiveeran, Paiyaa, Madras, Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru, Kaithi, Ponniyin Selvan, Sardar, Meiyazhagan |
| Education | Crescent Engineering College, Chennai (B.E.); Binghamton University, New York (M.S.) |
| Relatives | Sivakumar (father), Suriya (brother) |
| Spouse | Ranjani (m. 2011) |
| Children | 2 |
Early Life
Karthi grew up in Chennai, where his father, Sivakumar, was a leading actor known for his discipline and learning. He studied mechanical engineering at Crescent Engineering College, worked for a time as an engineering consultant and then took a master’s degree in industrial engineering at Binghamton University in the United States, where he also did part-time work as a graphic designer. He wanted to direct films. On his return he joined Mani Ratnam as an assistant director on Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004), in which his brother acted.
Career
Paruthiveeran
The director Ameer persuaded him to act. In Paruthiveeran (2007) he played an unwashed, swaggering village rowdy near Madurai whose love for his cousin ends in catastrophe. The film ran for most of a year, was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival and won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award.
Star
Selvaraghavan’s fantasy Aayirathil Oruvan, the road romance Paiyaa, Naan Mahaan Alla and Siruthai, in a double role, made him a dependable star by 2011. After a run of failures he recovered with Pa. Ranjith’s Madras (2014), set in a north Chennai housing colony, and the village drama Komban. In the bilingual Oopiri (2016) he played the carer of a quadriplegic millionaire.
Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru (2017), in which he played a police officer tracking a gang of highway killers across northern India, and the family film Kadaikutty Singam were major hits. In Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Kaithi (2019) he was a released prisoner who must drive a lorry full of poisoned policemen through a night of attacks in order to meet his daughter for the first time; the film had no songs and no heroine and became the starting point of a series of linked films.
He played the wandering warrior Vanthiyathevan, the narrator’s eyes, in Mani Ratnam’s two-part Ponniyin Selvan (2022–23), and a father and son in the spy thriller Sardar (2022). His twenty-fifth film, Japan, failed. Meiyazhagan (2024), a quiet drama about a man’s return to his home town and the relative who has never forgotten him, was widely admired. Vaa Vaathiyaar and Sardar 2 followed in 2026.
Public Work
In 2018 he started the Uzhavan Foundation, which honours and funds farmers and promotes traditional crops and water conservation. With his family he supports the Agaram Foundation’s education work. He has been treasurer of the South Indian Artistes’ Association since 2015.
Personal Life
He married Ranjani, a literature graduate from Erode district, in 2011 in a marriage arranged by their families. They have a daughter, Umayaal, and a son, Kandhan. His sister-in-law is the actress Jyothika.
Featured image: Karthi at the audio launch of Nenjil Thunivirunthal, October 2017. Photo by Silverscreen Media Inc., licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
