Over a year after the release of his last directorial venture Retro (2025), as filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj mounts his next, he is certain of one thing — that it will be a pan-India movie. According to him, pan-India cinema is no longer a distinct category, but the default reality of filmmaking today as the Indian audience consumes stories beyond language barriers. “Today, every film is pan-India. Even though my stories are rooted here, I make them keeping a wider audience in mind, including the Hindi market,” said the filmmaker.

According to reports, Karthik Subbaraj has confirmed that he will make the third instalment of his ‘Jigarthanda’ franchise  

Subbaraj, who broke out with Jigarthanda (2014), turned producer in 2015 and went on to back indie films like Aviyal (2016) and the April release Neelira. Reflecting on his journey as a producer, he stated that he seeks emotional stories, while understanding the responsibility that comes with backing complex narratives. “We need to be sensible about what and to whom we are presenting. Our last film Neelira is the story about the people caught between two sides [of a war], a story that says no to war. I just tell an emotional story. I don’t [necessarily] only produce films that I direct.” 

The director’s last release was ‘Retro’ (2025), led by Suriya