Karthikeya is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language mystery thriller film written and directed by Chandoo Mondeti.

The story revolves around Karthik, a curious medico who investigates the mysterious events surrounding a closed Karthikeya temple in the village of Subrahmanyapuram.

[6] Principal photography for Karthikeya began on 5 July 2013 and concluded on 21 February 2014, with filming locations across Andhra Pradesh, including Araku, Bobbili, and Kumararama temple in Samarlakota, as well as in Pondicherry and several places in Tamil Nadu, such as Kumbakonam.

In a village called Subrahmanyapuram, an old temple belonging to Subrahmanya Swami gets closed because of some mysterious deaths, supposedly by a snake bite.

Karthikeya finds a diary written by a person named Shankar, an Endowments Department (ED) official, who previously researched about the temple and its mystery, but Shankar was killed by a snake bite in the same building where Karthikeya and his friends were currently residing for the camp.

They leave for Tanjavur to find out that the temple is built very uniquely by the great architect Viswakarma and the family heirloom of the king that ruled that area, a diamond was placed at the feet of the Lord in such a way that on Karthika Pournami, the moon's rays fall on the feet of the Lord and the diamond reflects it back with 1000 times more intensity.

Karthikeya returns to the village and finds out that Tayattu, a cook/helper in his temporary residence at Subrahmanyapuram, was a part of the gang trying to kill him.

He finds an ED officer named Prudhvi Raj in the temple and realises that he is the mastermind behind the whole conspiracy.

Prudhvi tries to attack Karthikeya, but at the same time, the diamond reflects the moon's rays and the whole village realises that the Lord is still in the temple.

Karthikeya returns to Hyderabad where he completes his graduation and receives his MBBS degree at the convocation, where he leaves for Goa with his friends to investigate about a cave.

When I visited a popular temple called Talupulamma Thalli near Tuni, I heard about an incident that apparently happened there.

[8] Venkat Srinivas agreed to produce the film under his Magnus Cine Prime banner.

[16] In early October 2014, the film was shot in and around Kumbakonam including a Subramanya Swamy temple there.

Reviewing the soundtrack The Times of India wrote "All in all, Shekhar Chandra tunes are youthful and fresh.

Karthikeya, starring Swathi and Nikhil, has six songs in total and has a range of singers regaling us with their renditions.

Karthikeya is one of the finer films made in the recent past and in times like these, that in itself is like a big compliment.

Novel concept, gripping screenplay, Nikhil’s performance and cleverly designed suspense elements make this film different from others, and ends up as quite an engaging watch this weekend.

"[39] Jeevi of Idlebrain.com rated it 3.25 out of 5 stars wrote, "Actor Nikhil and producer should be appreciated for agreeing to do a film that is different from regular Telugu movies.

Supported by a neat screenplay and a bit of comedy, debutant director Chandoo Mondeti delivers a decent movie.

"[41] Oneindia Entertainment and IndiaGlitz both rated it 3 out of 5 stars and called the film a one time watch.

Like we said it is a suspense thriller that mixes bhakti and rational thinking quite well to large extent and we do appreciate the producer and the actor Nikhil for attempting something novel".

There is sufficient humour and romance to keep the film balanced and the story is about the crime but about the mindset of the criminal who uses a clever mix of science and religion to plan a brilliant murder".

[4] The film collected ₹10 crore in its first week at the global box office and entered profit zone.

[47] The film cashed in on the mixed response for Current Theega and managed to collect a total of ₹15 crore in 9 days at the Global box office.