It stars Sivaji Ganesan leading an ensemble cast consisting of N. T. Rama Rao, S. A. Ashokan, R. Muthuraman, Savitri, Devika and M. V. Rajamma.

Karnan, which was officially launched in 1963, was shot in palaces at Jaipur and the war sequences were filmed in Kurukshetra, which featured several soldiers from the Indian Army.

The unmarried princess Kunti is seen taking away a small open box with a live baby boy inside it; she had earlier got a boon from the sage Durvasa for her pious service to him.

One day, Indran, disguised as a Brahmin, approaches Karnan and asks for his armour and ear ornaments as alms to weaken and prevent him from overpowering Arjuna.

Arjunan remorses killing Karnan, until Krishnan reveals that the curses by Indran and Parashuramar were also responsible for his death.

Both planned to cast Sivaji Ganesan as the lead actor, but after hearing the story, he was unwilling to "take a risk" and asked Panthulu to instead make a film version of the novel Paavai Vilakku.

Instead, Panthulu decided to make Karnan, based on the life of the character Karna from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, and Nagarajan was retained as screenwriter due to his expertise on the subject,[4] while Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy wrote the dialogues.

[8] Shanmugasundaram was 19 when cast as the charioteer Shallian, and he believes Panthulu accepted him in that role as he had the required physique.

[7] The then six-year-old Master Sridhar, appears in a single scene as Meganathan, an orphan who meets Karnan after being accused of setting fire to a school.

[12] Shooting for Karnan also took place at the Bangalore Palace in the Cantonment area, making it the first film to be shot there.

[14] The disrobing of Draupadi from the Mahabharata was filmed but later scrapped as it was feared the scene would depict India in a negative light.

[4] According to Panthulu's son Ravishankar, a 2-minute sequence took as many as four days to shoot, because of the large number of personnel involved.

[7] After the release of Karnan, all the chariots made for the war sequences in Kurukshetra, were donated to the Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur.

[18][19] The songs were recorded using various instruments like Sarangi, Santoor, Shehnai, Dilruba and others that were rarely used in Tamil films.

[21] The songs are set in various Hindustani and Carnatic ragas: "En Uyir Thozhi" is set in Hamir Kalyani,[22] "Maharajan" in Kharaharapriya,[23] "Kangal Engey" in Suddha Dhanyasi,[24] "Iravum Nilavum" in Shuddha Sarang,[25] "Ullathil Nalla Ullam" in Ahir Bhairav,[26] "Poi Vaa Magale" in Anandabhairavi,[27] "Kannuku Kulam Yedu" in Pahadi, and "Naanichivandhana" in Darbari Kanada.

[30] Ganesan's own Shanti Theatre in Chennai, which released the film, had a 60 feet (18 m) tall banner of a chariot to attract the audience.

[1] The critic from The Indian Express wrote on 17 January 1964, "Reproducing the incidents from the Mahabharatha, the film has all the aspects demanded by the subject", adding that Panthulu had not spared any effort to do justice to the theme, and was appreciative of Ganga's art direction and Ramamurthy's cinematography.

[40] A "5.1 Channel EDS Sound" enhanced version was also released by the same company, featuring English subtitles.

With the help of technology, I wanted to bring the film back to the big screens to give audiences a taste of the movie's grandeur and valuable message ...

A digitally restored version of Karnan was released on 16 March 2012,[44] to commemorate the birth centenary of Panthulu.

[45] It is the first Tamil film to be fully digitally restored,[46] costing ₹4 million (US$46,000) and consuming an effort of three years.

To create awareness about the restoration of Karnan, a teaser trailer was launched on 21 February 2012, which received a positive response.

[44] It was well received upon release, although M. Suganth called the restoration process "far from perfect",[50] and Baradwaj Rangan wrote, "The print occasionally judders, leaving the impression of watching the movie on a screen mounted behind the driver's seat in an auto rickshaw".

"[57] Actor Rana Daggubati, in an interview with Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu, said that Ganesan's performances as Kattabomman and Karna served as inspirations for his role in Baahubali: The Beginning (2015).