Karthik Subbaraj

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

Early life Karthik Subbaraj born in Madurai. He did his schooling from 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. His father, Gajaraj, is an actor who has acted in many supporting roles in films like Mundasupatti and Kabali.

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

Career Subbaraj 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. This allowed him the opportunity to make Jigarthanda, which received positive reviews and earned actor Bobby Simha a national award. Subbaraj was praised by S. Shankar and Mani Ratnam.

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 went through 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. He produced Kallachirippu, a web series under his banner Stone Bench Creations.

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. He then produced the Hotstar Originals web series Triples starring Jai and Vani Bhojan.

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 (2021). In 2023, he went on to direct Jigarthanda DoubleX.

He then directed Retro, starring Suriya and Pooja Hegde. It opened to positive reviews from critics praising his direction and storytelling. The film became a commercial success at box office. In November 2025, Karthik began production on his 10th directorial, produced by Guneet Monga, which was later titled Dorothy.

Filmmaking style Some critics note that Subbaraj's directorial films usually have plot twists, needledropping of songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja, flamboyance inspired by Quentin Tarantino's films, and the inclusion of real-life world events and politics in the form of messaging.

Filmography As a director

As a producer and writer

As an actor Year Title Role Notes 2013 Soodhu Kavvum Jaguar car owner Cameo appearance 2019 Petta Motorcycle driver Uncredited appearance

Frequent collaborators Collaborator Santhosh NarayananGajarajVivek HarshanBobby SimhaRamachandran DurairajAadukalam NarenSananth (uncredited)Vijay Sethupathi (cameo)Vettai MuthukumarDeepak ParameshKarunakaranS. J. SuryahJoju George