Karnan (2021)

​In a 2020 Ananda Vikatan interview, director Mari Selvaraj refused the connections of the Kodiyankulam violence with the script. He further added that "This is a work of fiction. It will have some elements of truth. But there is no need for film directors to portray truth. There are newspapers and magazines to inform the masses about the truth. We are reading and listening to a lot of stories. We take inspiration from those stories to create a film." 
Director Mari Selvaraj in an interview with a news portal, stated the reason for the film's title as well as Dhanush's character in the film. He explained that "While the Karnan from Mahabharata was the one who gave away all his worldly belongings, Dhanush's Karnan has nothing to offer in the film as he comes from a conservative background. Karnan will also be seen fighting for his rights in the movie."
Jaya Gomathi Mirra, editor and chief film critic working for Cinema Express, reviewing for Karnan stated about the parallel themes involved with Mahabharata and its similarity with the plot and characters, as also film critc Baradwaj Rangan. Along with this, Mirra also reviewed the similarities and the connections with Selvaraj's previous film Pariyerum Perumal; she also reviewed about the political and artistic resonances in world cinema, quoting the likes of Seven Samurai, Bacurau and Les Misérables which also had similarities with the film.​