Karupy is a Canadian short drama film, directed by Kalainithan Kalaichelvan and released in 2025.Baisakhi Roy, "Kalainithan Kalaichelvan on Tamil identity, family secrets and his TIFF premiere". Canadian Immigrant, September 17, 2025. The film stars Sumathy Balaram as Karupy, the matriarch of a Tamil Canadian immigrant family who unexpectedly announces at her 65th birthday party that she is ready to die and intends to commit suicide that evening, setting off a chain reaction in the family dynamics as her family respond in various ways to the announcement.C.J. Prince, "10 Must-See Short Films at TIFF 2025". The Film Stage, September 2, 2025.
The cast also includes Ranjith Joseph, Smrithi Dhanasekar, UnniKannan S S, Arrthami Siva-Kuruvinth and Umeash Siva.
The film was made as Kalaichelvan's student project while studying at the Canadian Film Centre.Nirris Nagendrarajah, "(TIFF 2025) “You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on Kalainithan Kalaichelvan’s 𝐾𝑎𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑦” by Nirris Nagendrarajah & Kalainithan Kalaichelvan". CHA Journal, October 7, 2025. It had its genesis when he overheard his grandfather saying that he was simply waiting around to die, leading him to write a story that explored Tamil culture's ambivalent relationship with expressing difficult emotions around subjects such as death.
The film premiered in the Short Cuts program at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.Melanie Goodfellow, "Idris Elba’s ‘Dust To Dreams’ Starring Seal Set To Premiere In TIFF Shorts + Full Lineup". Deadline Hollywood, August 7, 2025.
Awards
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient Result Canadian Screen Awards 2026 Best Live Action Short Drama Kalainithan Kalaichelvan, Shaista Roshan, Alison Almeida "The 14th Canadian Screen Awards Nominations (2026)". The Canadian Film Reviewer, March 26, 2026. Best Performance in a Live Action Short Drama Sumathy Balaram Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2025 Outstanding Performer in a Canadian Short Film Andrew Tracy, "Montreal, My Beautiful wins best Canadian film prize at Reel Asian". Playback, November 6, 2025. Canadian Screen Music Awards 2026 Best Original Score for a Short Film Kalaisan Kalaichelvan Amber Dowling, "Middle Life, You’re Killing Me lead CASMA nominees". Playback, July 27, 2026.
References
External links