Murali Karthikeyan Muthuraman (born 13 September 1960), better known by his stage name Karthik, is an Indian actor, playback singer and politician who works in Tamil cinema. He is the son of veteran actor R. Muthuraman. In the 1980s and 90s, Karthik was one of the biggest stars in the industry. He was first introduced by Bharathiraja in the Tamil film Alaigal Oivathillai (1981) and became a lead actor in Tamil films by his own. He has also appeared in some Telugu films where he is credited as Murali. Karthik is popularly known as Navarasa Nayagan (multi-talented actor) for his "ability to emote all forms of actions and emotions". He has acted in more than 125 films. He has been the recipient of the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and the Nandi Award. He won four Filmfare Awards South.

Early life and background
Karthik was born as Murali Karthikeyan Muthuraman on 13 September 1960 in Chennai to veteran actor R. Muthuraman. He has two sons, Gautham and Ghayn, from his first marriage with Ragini, and another son, Thiran, from his second marriage with Rathi.