Dorothy is a 2026 Indian Tamil-language crime drama film directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by Guneet Monga Kapoor, Achin Jain and Jyoti Deshpande. The film stars Keerthy Suresh (in the titular role), Sananth and Rishikanth in the lead roles. It follows two inseparable friends whose lives are transformed by the arrival of the title character.
The film was announced in November 2025. Principal photography began the same month in Madurai and continued till March 2026. The film has music composed by Ilaiyaraaja, cinematography by Tirru and editing by Ganesh Siva.
Dorothy had its world premiere at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival on 11 September, and had its theatrical release two weeks later on 25 September. It received acclaim for its bold, progressive, and subversive storytelling from critics, but the LGBTQ representation received a polarised response.
Plot In the 1980s, Karthi and Subbu become childhood friends after Subbu stands up for Karthi when school bullies attack him. Subbu is a feisty, aggressive child whilst Karthi is gentle, dislikes fighting and fears blood. Subbu introduces Karthi to Subbu's family, including his father, Whistle Veeraiah, and his two elder brothers. Karthi, whose mother is a poor widow, is at Subbu's house all the time and Veeraiah takes him under his wing.
Karthi and Subbu grow up as henchman under Veeraiah. As adults, Karthi is now feisty and aggressive and Subbu is calmer and gentle, and afraid of blood. Subbu also has a friend, Dhanam, whose boyfriend was beaten near to death by her brother. One day, Subbu's older brother brings home a wife, Dorothy. Karthi and Subbu are enamoured by her. Subbu becomes close with Dorothy, spending time cleaning and doing chores together.
Dorothy is found dead one day, hanging in the family barn. The police deem it to be suicide despite Veeraiah having blood on his arm. Subbu and Karthi are distraught and while they are mourning, they are approached by a transgender woman. Subbu and Karthi attack her after she doesn't leave them and the woman curses them to a lifetime of pain. Subbu goes despairingly to Dhanam's house and weeps in her arms. Her brother sees this from the outside of the house and believing that someone was being inappropriate with his sister but not knowing who, he beats Dhanam up after Subbu leaves. The next day, Subbu approaches Dhanam's brother in a field and tries to explain, but the brother is too furious to listen to him and attacks him. Karthi finds them fighting in the field and after a long fight, Karthi stabs the brother to death. Karthi is moved north by Veeraiah under Vadivu's care to escape the authorities.
One day, Subbu locks himself in Dorothy's room and to his father's and brothers' horror, he shaves his beard and dresses himself in a sari. Subbu reveals to the family that she identifies as a woman. She is beaten and chased out of the house, taking refuge in Dindigul bus station. Flashbacks show that Subbu realised that she was a woman when she was 16 and Dorothy helped Subbu come to terms with her gender identity, giving Subbu saris to try on and promising Subbu that she would accompany her to the temple in December where Subbu would undergo a ceremony to make her a woman.
Subbu's brothers and father hire Karthi to kill Subbu to save the family honour. Karthi finds Subbu at the bus station, initially disgusted by Subbu's new identity, and drives her away, hiding his intentions from her. Karthi has many opportunities to kill Subbu behind her back but is thwarted. During one attempt, he gets stung by a scorpion and Subbu has to take him to a hospital. When he wakes up, he sees a body with long hair on a hospital bed. He believes it to be Subbu but it is revealed to be a beggar.
At a lorry stop, Karthi encounters the transgender woman he attacked earlier. The woman and her friends attack Karthi but is stopped by Subbu. The woman welcomes Subbu into her group and lifts the curse on Karthi. They go on Karthi's lorry to be dropped off at another place and tell Karthi to drop Subbu off at the Ceremony Temple. Karthi and Subbu go up a mountain where Karthi reveals the plan to Subbu. Subbu sits down to watch the sky and the mountains and tells Karthi to do it. Karthi is unable to do so. He thinks up of a plan- use the beggar from the hospital as a decoy for Subbu and convince her family that it is her corpse. He drops off Subbu at the temple to her new family and drives the dead body to Subbu's family who cremate it without realising the truth.
A month later, Karthi talks to Vadivu about emotions he's been feeling ever since he dropped Subbu off. Vadivu makes him realise that he is in love with Subbu. He travels to the temple where he sees Subbu undergoing the ceremony, now with a new name- Dorothy. A smiling Dorothy sees him and runs to him. Karthi takes hold of her and they kiss.
Cast Keerthy Suresh as Dorothy Sananth as Subbu Rishikanth as Karthi Ramachandran Durairaj as Vadivu Soundararaja Muthazhagi as Dhanam Jeeva Subramanian as a transgender woman Muthukumar as Whistle Veeraiya Gajaraj as the Parotta Shop owner Harishankar Narayanan as Daka Sait
Production In May 2025, while promoting Retro (2025), director Karthik Subbaraj noted that after Jigarthanda DoubleX (2023), he had wanted to make a small-budget film intended for film festivals a year before its theatrical release and even developed a complete script but had to stall work to focus on Retro, adding that in contrast to Retro, he intended to feature less prominent actors in this film. On 10 November, Karthik formally announced the film, his 10th directorial venture, to be produced by Guneet Monga Kapoor's Sikhya Entertainment. The untitled film began production the same day at Madurai.
In late March 2026, Karthik said filming was completed and the film was in post-production. Monga Kapoor echoed these comments at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. The film's title Dorothy was announced on 4 August 2026, along with the lead cast: Keerthy Suresh, Sananth and Rishikanth. Also produced by Dhammam Films and Jio Studios, it was photographed by Tirru and edited by Ganesh Siva. Saravanan Chandran was credited as the additional storywriter while Achin Jain and Jyoti Deshpande also produced the film. Keerthy stated that the title character, despite having screentime amounting to less than half an hour, was important to the story for reasons beyond duration. Karthik said he was inspired by the films of Mahendran, Balu Mahendra, Bharathiraja and K. Balachander while making Dorothy.
Music The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, in his first collaboration with Karthik. The first single "Kalyana Virundhu" was released on 22 August 2026. The second single "Muthumani", a trance number, was released on 29 August. The third and final single "Onna Thottu" was released on 24 September, a day before the film's release.
A separate album for the background score, consisting of 18 tracks, was released on 5 September 2026. A 40-minute concert where the tracks were performed live was held the same day at Image Auditorium, Chennai. One of the tracks, "How Else to Name It?" is a modernised version of "Do Anything" from Ilaiyaraaja's studio album How to Name It? (1986).
Release Dorothy had its world premiere on 11 September 2026 at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) where it received a standing ovation, and had its theatrical release two weeks later, on 25 September. In late August, the Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) and the Tamil Film Active Producers Association (TFAPA), due to a dispute with film distributors and exhibitors, announced that Tamil films cannot release or complete filming or post-production works from 1 September 2026 onwards, the film's theatrical release was facing uncertainty. However, a week later, the decision was reversed, allowing Dorothy to release as planned. The film was distributed by Sakthi Film Factory in Tamil Nadu.
Reception Reviewing the film after its premiere at TIFF, Christopher Cross of Asynchronous Media wrote that it "impresses stylistically, having built such a sturdy foundation with its two protagonists that even its awkward handling of a meaningful conversation can still be salvaged in the end". After it's theatrical release, Gopi Selva of Tamil Guardian gave the film 4.5/5 stars and wrote, "Dorothy is bold, it is brilliant and it is both [Karthik] Subbaraj's most grounded and daring work." Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in wrote, "What can safely be said is that except for avoidable bloat and some overwrought patches of scripting, Dorothy is a terrific subversion of the conventional Tamil film romance". Anupama Chopra praised the cast performances, music and technical craft but felt the "sharp narrative turns" and "central twist" of the film which she called "inorganic", prevent "every idea from landing".
M. Suganth of The Times of India wrote, "Karthik Subbaraj deserves credit for resisting the safer route and following the story through to its logical, uncompromising conclusion". Prathyush Parasuraman of The Hollywood Reporter India wrote, "Reckless, messy, turgidly long, and forcefully stylish—those long takes, those abrupt cuts, those saturated yellows—these films never achieved their stated purpose, to feel the morality, unable to rise to the provocation of their form. Dorothy is a welcome departure from that disappointment. The form is solidly present, flipping between a flashback in colour and a present in black and white—a reversal, where usually the past is rendered in monochrome nostalgia. Avinash Ramachandran of Cinema Express wrote, "It isn't a story that hasn't been told on the big screen. It isn't emotions that haven't already been explored. And yet, it is a unique film because Karthik Subbaraj gives a very 'arthouse' concept a 'masala' treatment".
Controversies LGBTQ representation
After its theatrical release, Dorothy faced backlash for its depiction of LGBTQ people, and there were calls to boycott the film. A scene featuring a kiss between a transgender woman and a cis male was leaked online post-release, only adding to the controversy. Sakthi Film Factory defended the film and Karthik, accusing audiences of criticising the film without watching it but relying on fake reviews, while Karthik explained that the film was actually about accepting LGBTQ people rather than shaming them. He believed the controversy only "helped" the film.
Plagiarism allegations J. Mohammed Sariff, a short film director, filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Chennai Police, accusing Karthik of plagiarising his 2020 short film Dot Nangai due to transgender friendship and marriage being a common theme. Sariff noted that he had been working for a few months to adapt Dot Nangai into a feature film but the release of Dorothy impeded his progress, and demanded compensation from Karthik.
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