Karnan (2021 film)

Karnan
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mari Selvaraj
Written by	Mari Selvaraj
Produced by	Kalaipuli S. Thanu
Starring	Dhanush Lal Rajisha Vijayan Yogi Babu Natarajan Subramaniam
Cinematography	Theni Eswar
Edited by	Selva R. K.
Music by	Santhosh Narayanan
Production company	V Creations
Release date	9 April 2021 (2021-04-09)
Running time	159 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹25 crore
Box office	est. ₹63 crore[1]

Karnan (pronunciation^ⓘ) is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Mari Selvaraj, and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu. The film stars Dhanush, Rajisha Vijayan (in her Tamil debut), Lal, Yogi Babu, Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli and Natarajan Subramaniam. The film features music composed by Santhosh Narayanan, cinematography handled by Theni Eswar, and editing done by Selva R. K. The film features the titular character, hailing from a conservative background, fighting for the rights of his people.

After a brief-long pre-production work, the film was launched in January 2020, with the title Karnan. The film is mostly set in the rural Thoothukudi district. Shooting of the film took place, following its launch, and was completed in December 2020; although production was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was theatrically released on 9 April 2021 to critical acclaim. Though the film generated controversies for allegedly being influenced by the 1995 Kodiyankulam caste violence, it became one of the highest grossing Tamil films of 2021, despite its theatrical run abruptly ending due to pandemic restrictions. Publications like The Indian Express named Karnan as one of the best Tamil films of 2021.^[2]