Karthick Naren
Biography
Karthick Naren (born 23 July 1994) is an Indian filmmaker who works primarily in Tamil cinema as a director, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, he developed an interest in filmmaking at a young age and made several short films before entering feature cinema.
Naren made his feature-film directorial debut with the neo-noir crime thriller Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru (2016), commonly known as D-16. Made when he was only 22, the film starred Rahman and became a critical and commercial success. Its nonlinear narrative and tightly constructed mystery established Naren as a promising young filmmaker.
He subsequently directed Mafia: Chapter 1 (2020), starring Arun Vijay, and the anthology-film segment Project Agni in Navarasa (2021). He then directed Maaran (2022), starring Dhanush and Malavika Mohanan. His later directorial work includes Nirangal Moondru (2024).
Naren is also associated with Naragasooran, a crime thriller featuring Arvind Swamy, Shriya Saran, Sundeep Kishan, and Indrajith Sukumaran. The film was conceived as part of a planned thriller trilogy connected to Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru.
For Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru, Naren received the IIFA Utsavam awards for Best Story and Best Director and the SIIMA Award for Best Debut Director in 2017. His early success with the film made him one of the notable young directors to emerge in Tamil cinema during the 2010s.
