Karthik Sivakumar life and biography

Karthik Sivakumar is an award-winning Tamil film actor. He is the younger son of veteran actor Sivakumar and brother of leading actor Surya Sivakumar. His sister-in-law is the popular former actress Jyothika. He rose to fame after he debuted in Paruthiveeran, for which he received a Filmfare Best Tamil Male Debut Award and Filmfare Best Actor Award.

He went on to appear in commercially successful ventures such as Aayirathil Oruvan, Paiyaa, Naan Mahaan Alla and Siruthai, which established him in the Tamil film industry.

Karthi was born Karthik Sivakumar on 25 May 1977 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He did his schooling at St. Bede's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Chennai and went on to pursue his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Crescent Engineering College, Chennai. He got a scholarship for his higher studies in the United States,and enrolled at Binghamton University, New York, where he earned his Masters of Science in Industrial Engineering. He worked as a graphic designer there for some time, before realizing his priorities and deciding to pursue a career in filmmaking. "I always knew I wanted to be in films but I did not know exactly what I wanted to do. I loved movies and watched a lot of them. But my father insisted that I get a good education before I joined the film industry", he recalls. He did a couple of basic courses in filmmaking from State University of New York before entering films.

2007: Debut success

After his return to India, he met director Mani Ratnam, who offered him the role of Arjun (later played by Siddharth) in the film Aayutha Ezhuthu. Karthi instead joined him as an assistant director for the same film and its Hindi version Yuva, since he always wanted to become a film director and preferred direction to acting. However, he continued to receive several acting offers. When Ameer Sultan approached him to play the lead role in the film Paruthiveeran, Karthi eventually accepted the offer as the film was "so compelling". The film was critically and commercially very successful, whilst his portrayal as a careless village rowdy was immensely appreciated by critics and earned him several awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Tamil.

Family

Karthi was born to Tamil people Sivakumar and his wife Lakshmi. His father is a veteran Tamil actor, who has appeared in nearly 200 films. He has two siblings; an elder brother, Suriya who is a leading actor in the Tamil film industry and a younger sister named Brindha. Former lead actress of Tamil cinema, Jyothika Sadanah is his sister-in-law. Karthi is a Kongu Vellala Gounder. On 3 July 2011, he married Ranjani Chinnasamy, a post graduate in English literature who studied at Stella Maris College, Chennai. They got engaged on 29 April 2011 at Ranjani's native, Goundampalayam in Erode District, while the marriage was held at the CODISSIA Complex in Coimbatore. The wedding was arranged by the elders of the family.

Filmography:
2010: Naan Mahaan Alla
2011 : Siruthai Rathnavel Pandian, Rocket Raja
2011 : Ko Himself
2011 : Saguni

Awards and nominations:
2007 :
- Paruthiveeran Filmfare Awards South Best Actor Won
- Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Special Prize Won
- Vijay Awards Best Male Debut Won
2011 :
- Aayirathil Oruvan Filmfare Awards South Best Actor Nominated
- Paiyaa Nominated
- Naan Mahaan Alla Vijay Awards Best Actor Nominated

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