Karunas

Karunas is a popular comedian, musician, and producer and Tamil actor. He was born as Karunanidhi Sethu on February 21, 1970, in Peravurani, Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, India. He studied at Palangudi Bharati School and moved to Nandaman Arts, Presidency College later on. Karunas started his career as a dancer and pop singer who worked in the Tamil folk music.

When he was just 12-years old, he became a gaana singer. He was debuted in television through the television show, Naiyaandi Darbar as a musician. Ace director Bala heard saw him and his songs in the Durbar show and signed him on his second directorial film, Nandha in 2001. The film stars Suriya and Laila in the lead roles, while Karunas acted in a comedic role. His character in the film earned critical acclaim, which led him to act in more films in the following years. Later, he acted in notable films like Baba with Rajinikanth in the lead role, Pithamagan, Vasool Raja MBBS and the Tamil thriller film, Polladhavan in 2007. He acted and distributed two of Jiva-starrer films entitled Pori and Kattradhu Thamizh in 2007. However, both films failed to make a success at the box office, which stops him from distributing any future ventures.

In the year 2008, he made his first leading role in the Tamil drama film, Dindigul Sarathy, where he played as Sarathy Raman, an insecure teetotaler. Because of the heavy promotions from the Sun Pictures, the film had success at the box office, which prompts him to act in more lead roles in comedy films like Ambasamudram Ambani, Chandhamama, Ragalaipuram and Lodukku Pandi. During those times, he is also doing serious performances and got involved in the making of the Tamil drama film, Thanga Meenkal, before the film had a change of cast. In 2013, he won praises and acclaim for his performance in the war drama film, Ceylon, which was helmed by Santosh Sivan. Later on, he rarely appears in the lead roles and recently, he announced that he will not will not appear in the lead roles in any films. Subsequently, he returned to play supporting roles and won critical acclaim for his outstanding performance as a suicidal man in the comedy horror film, Darling in 2015. In the same year, he was seen as a villager in the blockbuster Tamil action drama film, Komban. This film also marks as his 100th film.

He turned music director after he replaced Indian composer, Dhina, in the Tamil film, Rajadhi Raja in 2009. He also worked in Ambasamudram Ambani in 2010 and Kasethan Kadavulada in 2011. He started singing for films in the year 2002 through Suriya-starrer, Shree, where he crooned the song Madurai Jilla. Karunas also sings in films like Chennai 600028, Chandhamama, Ceylon, Ragalaipuram, Darling and more. He got married to Grace, a playback singer from the Tamil film industry, whom he met when he became a judge at an inter-collegiate singing contest. They have two children who are both into music as well.

Karunas Family Tree (Infographic Family Tree)