From BSNL to Bollywood: The Extraordinary Life of Karthikeyan Subramanyam

A singer, a carom referee, a short-film actor, meet the Marzi community member who proves it's never too late to live your passions.

Karthikeyan Subramanyam's story is one that resonates with anyone who has ever chased a dream while staying rooted in responsibility. Born and raised in Bangalore's Cantonment Area, a true melting pot of Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Urdu, and Tamil neighbours, Karthikeyan grew up absorbing languages, cultures, and an unshakeable love for music.

A Career Built on Service and Sport

After completing his pre-university studies, Karthikeyan briefly served in the Indian Air Force. The pull of Bangalore, however, was stronger than any posting could overcome. He took a voluntary discharge and joined the Department of Posts & Telegraphs (later BSNL) in 1981 as a Telegraph Assistant at the Central Telegraph Office, earning a starting salary of just ₹120 per month, every rupee of which he handed to his mother.

Over a 40-year career, he rose to manage BSNL's sports cell for over a decade, organising inter-BSNL tournaments across disciplines including athletics, football, hockey, kabaddi, and carrom. As manager of the Karnataka BSNL team, he travelled across India for national-level competitions. He retired in 2022, a free man now, as he cheerfully describes himself.

The Carom Champion Who Refuses to Be Commercial

Carom has been Karthikeyan's passion since school, where a post-table-tennis cool-down session turned into a lifelong obsession. He became a nationally qualified carom referee, conducting tournaments with up to 250 participants from 24 states across India. His philosophy? Passion cannot be commercialised. He has coached numerous players entirely free of charge, one of his students today ranks among the top four in Karnataka.

A Short-Film Actor Ahead of His Time

In the early 1980s, Karthikeyan and his colleagues at the Central Telegraph Office pooled voluntary funds to produce Pavaiya, a 12-minute short film based on a story by renowned Tamil writer Rajanarayanan. Shot on 8mm black-and-white film and processed at Ad Labs in Mumbai, the film featured a young actress who would later win a National Award, Monisha Unni. Despite the creative triumph, the film's print has since been lost to time.

Music, Marzi, and the Magic of StarMaker

Singing has been in Karthikeyan's DNA since childhood, nurtured by Carnatic music sessions at home, early morning devotional music, and a family tradition steeped in musical appreciation. Today, he channels that passion on the karaoke app StarMaker, where he sings solo and in duets across multiple languages including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Urdu, and English.

It was on Facebook that he first discovered the Marzi community, and he registered immediately. "You can call me a cultural man," he says with quiet pride. "Singing, acting, carom, I can do all of that."

What Karthikeyan's Story Teaches Us

Here is a man who left the Air Force for love of his city, gave his first salary to his mother, acted in a short film alongside a future National Award winner, coached carom champions without charging a rupee, and now fills his retirement with song. His life is a reminder that a meaningful life is built not from a single defining achievement, but from decades of passion, community, and generosity.

At Marzi, we celebrate stories like Karthikeyan's stories that prove talent has no age limit and community has no borders.