Dark is a 2026 Indian Tamil-language horror film written and directed by debutant Kalyan K. Jegan, from a story by co-producer Ganesh K. Babu. The film stars Ajay Karthi in the lead role alongside Anchana Nethrun, Natty Subramaniam, and K. Bhagyaraj amongst others. The music was composed by Manu Ramesan, cinematography was handled by Ravi Sakthi and editing by Kathiresan Alagesan. The film was released on 3 July 2026 and was not a box office success.
Contents
Cast
Ajay Karthi as Vignesh
Anchana Nethrun as Priyadarshini
Natty Subramaniam as Balachander
K. Bhagyaraj as Karunakaran
Sibi Chakravarthy
VTV Ganesh
Aravind
Shahul
Naren
Production
Dark is the directorial debut of Kalyan K. Jegan and the first film of Ajay Karthi as hero. It was shot prominently in Chennai. Ganesh K. Babu, the film's story writer, also co-produced the film. He said that while writing the story he drew inspiration from his experiences as a reporter in a crime series on a private television channel. This was one of the last films of Bhagyaraj, who died a week before the film's release. Cinematography was handled by Ravi Sakthi, and editing by Kathiresan Alagesan.
Music
The music was composed by Manu Ramesan. Two songs, "Irulenbathu" and "Adakuna Adakuna" were released as singles, in April 2025 and June 2026 respectively.
Release and reception
Dark was released on 3 July 2026. Abhinav Subramanian of The Times of India wrote, "Dark has just enough atmosphere to get under your skin and just enough incoherence to leave you wondering what it all amounted to". The film was also reviewed by Dina Thanthi, Dinamalar, Kalki Online and Nakkheeran.