[5] This allowed him the opportunity to make Jigarthanda, which received positive reviews and earned actor Bobby Simha a national award.

[7][8] His third movie, Iraivi (2016), received positive reviews, and Subbaraj was praised for the film's portrayal of society's treatment of women.

He then went on and directed a silent thriller, Mercury (2018), starring Prabhu Deva in the lead, which was not a commercial success.

He also produced the Amazon original movie Penguin starring Keerthy Suresh in the lead role.

Karthik, however, has stated that he prefers not to associate with any particular filmmaking style as he seeks to reinvent himself with every new film, noting how he intentionally avoided including a plot twist in Jagame Thandhiram which disappointed some audiences.