Karthik Sivakumar (Karthi) is one of the leading actors in the Tamil film industry. The youngest son of actor Sivakumar. Karthi holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering. He had always wanted to become a film director, he returned to India and joined Mani Ratnam as an assistant director. He was offered acting roles and made his acting debut in (Paruthiveeran) in 2007 as the titular character, a careless village rowdy, winning critical acclaim and several accolades including the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award. Karthi has also been involved in social welfare activities, In 2011, he became a cause ambassador to promote awareness of lysosomal storage disease.