Karthi

Mani Ratnam had Karthi as an assistant director on Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004), a film starring his elder brother Suriya, before their father, veteran actor Sivakumar, persuaded him to act. Born Karthik Sivakumar on 25 May 1977 in Madras, he studied mechanical engineering in Chennai, then went to Binghamton University in New York for a master's degree in industrial engineering and took filmmaking courses there. He made his debut as a lead in Paruthiveeran (2007), and his work is in Tamil cinema. A three-year gap followed before he returned in 2010 with Aayirathil Oruvan, Paiyaa and Naan Mahaan Alla, then Siruthai (2011), Saguni and Biriyani. Madras (2014), the bilingual Oopiri / Thozha and a dual role in Kaashmora (2016) came later. Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru (2017) won him the Filmfare Award South and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. He was Dilli in Kaithi (2019) and Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan in both parts of Ponniyin Selvan (2022, 2023), and he led the spy thriller Sardar (2022). His tally stands at four Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Sardar 2, the follow-up to that spy thriller, is his 2026 release.