for Vaathi
Ken Karunaas is a former child artist, actor, director, singer and lyricist working in Tamil cinema. He is the son of actor, comedian and politician Karunaas and playback singer Grace Karunaas. He was born into a Tamil Christian family on April 18th, 2001. Ever since he was 11, he has played smaller comedic roles as a child artist, notably in the film Ragalaipuram alongside his father. He gained notoriety after starring alongside famed actor Dhanush in Vetrimaaran's period action drama, Asuran. Playing Chidambaram, the main protagonist's youngest son, he formed a good friendship with Dhanush. This correlates later on, as he worked as an assistant director on Dhanush's Vaathi, Thiruchitrambalam, and Raayan (the latter's return to direction after 7 years). Since that point, he wrote his own screenplay for a coming-of-age comedy-drama film, Youth. The film was produced as a smaller-scale project and was released on March 19th, 2026, as his debut directed film (credited under "Ken & Gang"). This film became a blockbuster, cementing Ken Karunaas as a new young bankable star in Kollywood cinema.
