Karthik Kumar on his latest show Good Timing Ji: 'At 48, It feels like my career is finally beginning”

A great deal of my work has been autobiographical. Blood Chutney, for instance, was about what was happening in my life at that particular time. I tend to use my own experiences as a lens through which I explore broader social and political themes.

This show is also autobiographical in a way, as it reflects on luck 25 years into my journey. 2024 was a disastrous year for me. I would rather not go into the details, but it felt unfair and unpleasant. I’m referring to things that were said on YouTube by people who were once part of my life. It felt like a form of cancellation within my personal world. It was the lowest point of my life.

Then, just a year later, I embarked on a new journey as a writer, director and creator. I became part of Heartbeat, in which I play one of the lead roles. That show changed my life. It is probably one of the most-watched OTT series in India at the moment, and it brought me validation and appreciation at the very start of this new chapter.

That is why the show is relatable. It is about luck and the role it plays in our lives. But I don’t think you should outsource all of it. Some of that belief has to be internalised. Your readiness plays a part in determining when luck arrives. In a way, the show is fun pop philosophy filtered through comedy. Think of it as the sort of thing a boy band might sing about.

That is essentially what it is. We are all superstitious when it comes to luck. What I want from life is good timing, because it really is everything.

Take comedy, for instance. A joke landing at exactly the right moment is all about timing. Something that might have offended you two years ago can seem funny today because your life has changed. Even humour depends on timing. That, in essence, is what the show is about. It promises a good time, it explores the idea of good timing, and every joke is built around it.

I began writing the show before Heartbeat happened, and I finished it after Heartbeat had been released. Before the show came along, I was writing from a place where I genuinely felt it was all over. After that, I found myself writing from a completely different perspective. The show therefore captures a very real transition in my life. It reflects both who I was and who I became.

I think it was the show Heartbeat. Technically, Heartbeat came to me seven years after I had supposedly retired from cinema. When I first made my debut as a film actor 25 years ago, I believed acting would be my calling card into the arts. When this role came along two decades later, I did not imagine it would change my life. I thought it would pay my bills. But it also gave me a level of validation and appreciation that I had not received over those 25 years. In that sense, I feel a little like actors such as Pedro Pascal or Javier Bardem, whose careers reached a new level in their 40s. It genuinely feels as though my career is only just beginning.

In fact, I see it more as my first innings. I think my entire life has simply been preparation for the first innings I am playing now. Coming from a conservative background, when I said I was going to be in films, people did not quite know what to make of it. My first film, Vaanam Vasappadum (2004), released without much attention. There was no buzz or real conversation around it.

On the same day, people went to watch Vijay’s Ghilli in the theatre next door. If I had been in that theatre instead, I might have been Chief Minister by now! My film was simply in the wrong theatre.  Sometimes you are almost there, but not quite. The difference can be a second or even a single theatre.

Yes, I make fun of the fact that I was a second hero all my life. Even my name, Karthik, is not unique. In Tamil Nadu, it is probably what every third male child is called. It’s the name of every boy-next-door in films, and in real life it is the boy-next-door everywhere. For a long time, I felt that if I had to stand out, I would almost have to redefine myself completely.

When I entered the industry, names like Navarasa Nayagan (Karthik) were fading out, and I thought, “I am Karthik, that is it.” I did not consider changing it. And then Paruthiveeran came along (marking Karthi’s debut).

In that sense, someone like Nawazuddin Siddiqui has a distinct identity that no one else can take away. Imagine the advantage he has. If my family had been more connected to the industry, they might have given me a rather unusual name, something deliberately designed for films. But they were not part of that world.

Even today, I cannot really sit with my family and talk about whether a film or show has done well or not. They would not fully understand it. Their only philosophy in life was to earn a salary, and that is something I never quite followed. So I think I have lived through all of that over the last 25 years. But now I am able to look back and laugh about it.

If they had qualms about me not earning a salary, I think it should have happened 25 years ago. My father and mother are very modest people. My mother works as a social worker at the cancer institute, and my father retired at 50. So, in a very literal sense, there was no corpus set aside for me with the idea of, “Go and do something with this.”

After my education, I started from zero. Zero in terms of contacts, and zero in terms of experience in film, theatre, or the arts. The industry in India is extremely tough. You are typically trained to become an engineer or a doctor. In my case, it was engineering.

I learnt art, whether theatre, acting or comedy, by doing it. I did not go to an NSD or a film institute. If I had gone to an acting school, a drama school, a theatre school or a film school, they might have taught me how to do it. But not why to do it. I think art is about finding your 'why', and that 'why' has to come from you.

I think timing matters the most. I have seen people like Rajesh Khanna. He had that kind of phase because of timing, not necessarily because he was a 'star actor'. When that timing shifted, there was very little to hold on to. It must have felt like, “Oh God, my timing is gone, now what do I do?” Everything he had achieved in those years suddenly did not feel the same anymore. Success and timing came to him too early in life, and then left just as quickly.

The first winner of Kaun Banega Crorepati is remembered in India, Harsh. He was the first crorepati on the show. At that time, one crore was a huge amount. Now it is ten crores.

But what happens? His life changes in that moment, and within a couple of years the money is gone and he is back to where he started. So the question is, what happens if luck comes to you before you are ready for it?

Right place, right time is often called luck. But the right place and right time alone is not enough. Luck only really works when you are ready to receive it. So if you had to choose between getting lucky early, in the middle of life, or late in life, the middle is probably better than late. Of course, better late than never, and too early is not ideal either.

Imagine someone very young, like a rising talent having success in their first or second season, and then struggling immediately after. They are too young to understand failure properly. How they go through that phase will define the rest of their life. I hope they are able to stay committed to success.

In my case, I think I was like Hamsa in Dhurandhar for 25 years, going undercover and finally coming to the fore.

If I imagine my younger self watching Good Timing, I think he would be pleasantly surprised. He would see someone talking about hope, about waiting rather than running away. Life will throw difficulties at you, but you have to be ready for them, because ultimately you want to do what you love. In that sense, the show becomes a kind of song of hope. It is about investing in yourself for the journey ahead. It is a reminder that it will not always be easy, but it will be meaningful and, in its own way, a lot of fun.