Karthikeya is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language mystery thriller film written and directed by Chandoo Mondeti. The film features Nikhil Siddharth, Swati Reddy, Tanikella Bharani, Rao Ramesh, and Jayaprakash in prominent roles. The film was produced by Venkata Srinivas on Magnus Cine Prime banner. Shekar Chandra composed the film’s music while Karthik Ghattamaneni and Karthika Srinivas were its cinematographer and editor respectively. The film revolves around a closed Kartikeya temple on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and showcases the life of a curious medico Karthik and his nexus with the temple.
An incident which happened in Talupulamma Temple near Tuni in Andhra Pradesh inspired Chandoo Mondeti to pen the story of Karthikeya. The film was launched on 10 June 2013 at Hyderabad and its Principal photography began on 5 July 2013 which lasted until 21 February 2014. It was shot in Visakhapatnam, Araku, and Kumararama temple in Samarlakota in Andhra Pradesh. Nearly half of the film was shot in Tamil Nadu including Kumbakonam. After few postponements, the film released on 24 October 2014 as a Diwali release to positive reviews from critics, and collected more than 20 crore, on a budget of 4–6 crore.
At the 62nd Filmfare Awards South, the film was nominated in four categories. At the 4th South Indian International Movie Awards, the film received one win out of four nominations. Following the film’s success, a sequel titled, Karthikeya 2, was announced by Mondeti in late 2019 and released on 13 August 2022.