Youth
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ken Karunas
Written by	Ken Karunas
Produced by	Karuppiah C. Ram Sulochana Kumar Kali Rajkumar Prabha Premkumar
Starring	Ken Karunas Suraj Venjaramoodu Devadarshini Anishma Anilkumar Meenakshi Dinesh Priyanshi Yadav
Cinematography	Viki
Edited by	Nash
Music by	G. V. Prakash Kumar
Production companies	Paarvathaa Entertainments Street Boy Studios Maali and Manvi Movie Makers
Distributed by	Sri Kumaran Films Ayngaran International
Release date	19 March 2026 (2026-03-19)
Running time	141 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹6 crore
Box office	₹82 crore[2]

Youth is a 2026 Indian Tamil-language coming-of-age romantic comedy film written and directed by Ken Karunas, in his directorial debut, who also enacts the lead role. The cast also includes Suraj Venjaramoodu, Devadarshini, Anishma Anilkumar, Meenakshi Dinesh and Priyanshi Yadav (in her lead Tamil debut).^[3]

Youth was released in theatres on 19 March 2026 to positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success at the box-office.^[4]

Praveen is a 15-year-old boy who studies at a Matriculation school dealing with Adolescence and his parents expectations. He lives with his father Unnikrishnan, a bakery owner and his mother Saroja. Saroja loves Praveen and has many expectations for him. Praveen is a carefree teenager, who constantly disrespects his parents and he behaves like a big shot across his school well-known by everyone in his class and popular in his friend group. Praveen has a crush on Preshika who initially asks him to stop being in touch with her despite liking him back which Praveen finds out due to a hilarious encounter with his rivals. They both confess to each other and enter into a relationship much to the jealousy of others especially two girls Anugraha and Sai Navya who wish to break them up.

After Preshika informs she will be out of town for a week, Praveen exploits her absence and decides to cheat on her after texting and meeting Sonal and the two engage in romantic moments. When the Annual day dance occurs, Preshika surprises Praveen but feels left out due to the romantic banter Sonal and Praveen do in front of her. This causes a rift in their relationship and Preshika asks Praveen to cut his ties with Sonal. Praveen though agrees, tries to reject Sonal directly but is unable to do so and hugs her. However, Preshika sees this and it is revealed that Sonal was actually is Anugraha's and Sai's friend as they successfully break Preshika and Praveen up and the events occur in front of Unnikrishnan.

Praveen fears Unnikrishnan might do something to him but is surprised when he doesn't. Praveen decides that he must seek revenge on Sonal for what had happened with him and uses his popularity advantage to harass and bully Sonal during the school's field trip. This ends up in Praveen getting confronted by Kanakavalli, the class leader and he quickly develops an interest for her. Kanaga and Praveen go from being Rivals to close friends and Praveen develops deep feelings for Kanaga after seeing her get along with his parents well. Meanwhile, his mother Saroja ends up in a state of anxiety, fearing Praveen would choose Kanaga over her.

Praveen after many interactions with her comes to a conclusion, delusionally, that Kanaga might like him back as well. After his peers advice him to ask her out, Praveen does so but is met with a harsh rejection where Kanaga says she only viewed Praveen as a friend and nothing more, breaking Praveen's heart completely. At the same time, Praveen finds out his rival Siddarth had assaulted his friend group causing Praveen to engage in a brutal fight with Siddharth and his gang and brings him trouble at the Principal's office. After the Principal threatens to suspend everyone, Saroja desperately pleads which stresses her out so much to cause a mild heart attack. Praveen is faced with guilt and emotional shock over Saroja as Unnikrishnan outright rejects him and blames him for what happened with Saroja.

After Praveen comes back to school, Kanaga engages with him and gives a condition to Praveen that if Praveen scores great marks and passes his 12th grade, she will accept his love proposal and they can engage romantically. Praveen accepts it and studies hard to gain a score. Towards the end of the exam, Praveen not only passes 12th grade but he has gotten the 9th rank in his public examinations and becoming an all-round scorer. Praveen meets up with Kanaga but ends up rejecting her, telling her that he does not wish to have a love where there is expectations and tells that Kanaga would've rejected him if Praveen were to fail his exams. This strong stance comes after Praveen listens to his father's rants about his mother and understands that the love Unnikrishnan and Saroja have for each other and for Praveen is the purest form of love. Praveen makes do with everyone what he had done was wrong including Preshika, Sonal and her friends and the film ends with the message saying it was dedicated to the parents. Unnikrishnan reveals that during the event what Sonal and her friends did to Praveen and Preshika, Unnikrishnan had the same effect.

The film was officially announced in October 2025 under the tentative title Production 01, as it the debut production of Paarvathaa.^[5] The film was initially titled School Days.^[6] Principal photography took place from the same month to December, predominantly in Chennai.^[7] The film has music composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, cinematography handled by Viki and editing by Nash.^[8]

The soundtrack is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar^[9] and released through his own label.^[10]

The first single "Mutta Kalakki" was released on 7 February 2026.^[11] The second single "Paranthene Penne" was released on 19 February 2026.^[12] The third single "Aasa Pulla" was released on 28 February 2026.^[13] The fourth single "Loveah Sollitalea" was released on 13 March 2026.^[14] The fifth single "Jilpanso" was released on 18 March 2026. The complete Album was released on 25 March 2026.

In addition to the Tamil original soundtrack, the song "Punnagai Neram Othuku", composed by Deva for the 2000 film Appu, the song "Manmadhane Nee", composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja for the 2004 film Manmadhan, the song "Pottu Thakku", composed by Srikanth Deva for the 2004 film Kuthu and the 2015 Indie song "Naan Aasa Patta Ponnu Peru Monisha", composed by A. C. Dhinakaran are reused in the Tamil version of the film.

In addition to the Telugu original soundtrack, the song "Gaajuvaka Pilla", composed by R. P. Patnaik for the 2001 film Nuvvu Nenu, the song "Manmadhuda Nee", composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja for the 2004 film Manmadha and the song "Calcutta Pan Vesina", composed by Mani Sharma for the 2003 film Raghavendra, are reused in the Telugu version of the film.

Youth was theatrically released on 19 March 2026.^[15] It was also dubbed in Telugu under the same name and released on 27 March 2026.^[16] The film was distributed by Rasi Chidambaram's Sri Kumaran Films in Tamil Nadu. The overseas distribution rights of the film were acquired by Ayngaran International.

The post-theatrical digital and satellite rights were acquired by Netflix^[17] and Vijay Television.^[18]

Youth received positive reviews from critics.

Avinash Ramachandran of Cinema Express and The New Indian Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote, "But just as most of us look at our own past with rose-tinted glasses, we can extend the same to Youth simply because we know that the outside world won’t be easy for these kids, and for now… let them have this".^[19][20]

Janani K of India Today gave 3/5 stars and wrote, "Youth is not a film that digs deep or asks difficult questions. It is a breezy, affectionate drama about teenagers who are unserious about life until life gets serious with them. It stumbles in places, relies on convenience in others, and lets a few jokes slide that it probably should not. But it strikes enough of the right notes — and finds enough genuine heart in the margins — to make it a worthwhile watch".^[21]

Anusha Sundar of OTTplay gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "With some strong performances, youthful music to keep things going, and some relatable comedy and moments, the film has enough to keep you engaged. But beyond that, the film is not free of loopholes and writing issues. The film is almost there, like a draft that needs one last edit before becoming a bound script. Youth is entertaining on the surface, lacking underneath".^[22]

Abhinav Subramanian of The Times of India gave 2/5 stars and wrote, "Given how easy it is for this territory to collapse into unwatchable cliche, Youth stays on the right side of that line for most of its runtime. It could have used twenty fewer minutes, though, and nothing of value would have been lost".^[23]

• Youth at IMDb