 Karunakaran's father is a former RAW agent and he grew up in New Delhi, before moving to Trichy with his parents, where he met short film maker and friend Nalan Kumarasamy.He completed his secondary schooling at Sri Akilandeswari Vidyalaya, Trichy.He initially made a career as chemical engineer, graduating from SASTRA University, and then as an IT professional at Accenture, before Nalan approached him to feature in a short film he was making for the reality television show, "Naalaya Iyakkunar".