The son of director P. Vasu, Shakthi began his career as a child artist in his father's films before his lead role in Thottal Poo Malarum (2007).

In regard to his performance, Sify.com stated "the only silver lining is Sakthi who makes a decent debut" and that "he is good looking and does his role with a certain amount of confidence".

[4][5] His following films, the romantic comedy Mahesh Saranya Matrum Palar (2008) and the college drama Ninaithale Inikkum (2009) garnered good reviews, with the latter also performing well at the box office.

His next venture, Aattanayagann garnered negative reviews and performed poorly, though Behindwoods.com noted "Sakthi emerges largely unscathed" and that "he does have the flair of an entertainer and the director’s efforts to show him as a well-rounded actor are evident".

Portraying a cop who is under fire for human rights violations, a critic from The Times of India wrote Shakthi "does his best" but the "monologuing becomes hilarious after a point".

[19][20] In 2017, Shakthi took part in the Tamil reality television show, Bigg Boss hosted by Kamal Haasan in Star Vijay.

[24] Further family members, Shakthi's cousin Gautham and uncle Vimalkumar made their debut as director and writer with the film 7 Naatkal (2017).