Karthi is one of the few actors in the country who can handle out and out commercial roles as well as intense characters with ease. He has been going from strength to strength in the past few years delivering blockbuster hits namely 'Ponniyin Selvan 1', 'Viruman', 'Sardar' and 'Ponniyin Selvan 2'.

Karthi's next sensational film is 'Japan' getting ready for release on Diwali later this year. Director Raju Murugan of 'Joker' and 'Cuckoo' fame is helming and in a recent interview has let out that the film is based on real life jewel thief Thiruvarur Murugan. The notorious personality planned and executed a string of jewel hiests in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with the most famous being the Lalitha Jewelry robbery in Trichy.

Murugan was finally caught and was lodged in the Parapaana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru where he died at the age of 46 due to AIDS. Raju Murugan stated that he offerred to change certain sensitive aspects of the character and the climax of 'Japan' but Karthi insisted that the authenticity of the story be retained.

Now this has caused a sensation in the Indian film industry as according to the director's statement, Karthi apparently will be playing an AIDS patient. So far in memory no other Tamil mainstream hero has attempted such a role and even in other languages it is a rarity in Indian cinema. Lets wait for the official confirmation.

'Japan' has music by G.V. Prakash Kumar and is produced on a grand scale by Dream Warrior Pictures. The film has Karthi and Anu Emmanuel in the lead roles supported by Sunil, Vagai Chandrasekhar, Bava Chelladurai and Vagai Chandrasekhar.