Gautham revealed that he initially felt Ratnam had approached him to be a part of the technical crew and was surprised when he was handed the lead role.

The film opened in February 2013 to mixed reviews, though Gautham Karthik's performance of a deprived youngster caught between the characters played by Arvind Swamy and Arjun was unanimously praised.

He scores in action as well as dance department too",[11] while a reviewer from Rediff.com wrote that the actor "pulled it off with elan", labelling him as "a natural performer and is surely here to stay".

Following, he has signed Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren (2018) which is to be directed by Arumuga Kumar and he is sharing screen space with Vijay Sethupathi for first time.

[16] Following, director M. Muthaiah known for his caste-based movies has joined with Gautham Karthik for a masala of violence coated with family sentiments in Devarattam (2019).