Karthi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Karthi

• Karthi grew up in Chennai.

  

• In childhood, he used to watch the films of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee and developed an interest in acting.

• After completing his graduation, he started working as an engineering consultant in Chennai for which he earned Rs 5000 per month. Later, he left the job as he found it monotonous.

  

• He then shifted to New York to pursue his higher studies. He even worked as a part-time graphic designer.

• After returning to India, he started working as an assistant director with the Indian director Mani Ratnam.

• In 2010, became the brand ambassador of Bharti Airtel South India. He even appeared in its advertising campaign Indraikku Enna plan.

  

• He has acted in many Tamil films like ‘Paiyaa’ (2010), ‘Siruthai’ (2011), ‘Thambi’ (2019), ‘Ponniyin Selvan: I’ (2022), ‘Sardar’ (2022), and ‘Ponniyin Selvan: II’ (2023).

• In 2011, he became a cause ambassador to promote awareness of lysosomal storage disease.

• He has lent his voice to many Tamil songs like “Kandha Kaara Vadai” from the film ‘Saguni’ (2012), “Gubu Gubu Gubu” from the film ‘Magalir Mattum’ (2017), “Yerumayileri” from the film ‘Sardar’ (2022), and “Touching Touching” from the film ‘Japan’ (2023).

• He has been featured in TV commercials for various brands like Cadbury Oreo, WWE Sony Sports, Santoor, Chennai Silks, and Bru Instant.

• In 2015, he became the treasurer of the coveted Nadigar Sangam.

• Every year, he visits orphanages on his birthday and donates funds to them.

• He inaugurated the NGO Makkal Nala Mandram on his 31st birthday to encourage his fans to participate in welfare activities. On that day, he even distributed school bags to children, sewing machines to women, and bicycles to children.

• He has also adopted a white tiger cub in Vandalur Zoo to preserve the species.

• He once shared that he wanted to learn to fly the aeroplanes.

• In 2019, he lashed out at the Indian actress Kasturi Shankar for mocking his father while trying to take a selfie with Karthi. Earlier, Karthi’s father threw a phone of his fan who tried to take a selfie with his father without his permission. ^[6]India Today

• In 2020, he shared that he never did a smoking scene on screen as he did not want to promote the wrong things with his films. ^[7]The Times of India

• In 2022, he auctioned his favourite guitar to raise funds for Chennai-based Wasted 360 Solutions. The guitar was gifted to him by his mother when he was 1o years old. ^[8]The Times of India

  

• In 2023, he acted in his 25th film ‘Japan’ (Tamil) as Japan Muni.

  

• He lent his voice to the Telugu song “Touching Touching” in 2023 for the film ‘Japan.’

• He is an avid animal lover and often shares pictures with animals on his social media accounts.

  

• In 2023, in a media interaction, he passed a comment about caste. He said,
  

  I don’t see caste because I grew up in Madras.”

  However, he was criticised by people for being so ignorant. ^[9]Times Now

• He has been featured on the cover of various magazines such as South Scope, Ritz, Kungumam, and Red.

  

Ponniyin Selvan: I