Vijay Sethupathi & Karunakaran Movies Together List — 7 Films

The shape of the work

The 2010s account for 71% of everything they made together. The 2010s belonged to Jigarthanda; the 2020s to Tughlaq Durbar. Vijay Sethupathi acted in every film; Karunakaran acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Karunakaran was a struggling comedian when director Karthik Subbaraj cast him opposite Vijay Sethupathi in Jigarthanda (2014). Sethupathi had already done Soodhu Kavvum, but Karunakaran got the role because Subbaraj wanted a fresh face to play the aspiring filmmaker — and Sethupathi’s character needed someone who could match his deadpan energy without being intimidated.
• In Jigarthanda, Sethupathi’s gangster character was loud and unpredictable, while Karunakaran’s director character was nervous and reactive. Sethupathi deliberately kept his dialogue delivery loose on set, forcing Karunakaran to improvise his reactions in real time — that tension you see on screen is real, not scripted.
• Their pairing in Jigarthanda directly inspired the 2019 Hindi film Jigarthanda DoubleX — a spiritual sequel that reimagined the same actor-director dynamic. Without their original chemistry, that entire franchise wouldn’t exist.
• During the shoot of Iraivi (2016), Sethupathi and Karunakaran shared a room in a budget lodge in Kodaikanal for three weeks. They’d rehearse scenes at night by candlelight because the power kept cutting. Karunakaran later said that’s where they figured out the rhythm for their emotional confrontation scene.
• Karunakaran once said in an interview: 'Vijay Sethupathi doesn't act with you — he acts at you. You have to catch his energy and throw it back. In Jigarthanda, I was terrified. In Seethakathi, I knew how to dodge.'