Background and career
Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known professionally as Suriya, is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. One of the highest-paid Tamil film actors, Suriya is considered as one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. Suriya has received numerous accolades including two National Film Awards, seven Filmfare Awards South and ten Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. He has featured seven times in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list.
The eldest of actor Sivakumar's children, Suriya made his debut in Nerukku Ner (1997) at the age of 22. He landed his breakthrough role in Nandhaa (2001) and then had his first major commercial success with the thriller Kaakha Kaakha (2003). Following award-winning performances of a conman in Pithamagan (2003) and a hunchback in Perazhagan (2004), he played a man suffering from anterograde amnesia in the 2005 blockbuster Ghajini. He rose to stardom with dual roles of a father and son in Gautham Vasudev Menon's semi-autobiographical Vaaranam Aayiram (2008). His status as an action star was established with roles of a smuggler in Ayan (2009), and an aggressive cop in the Singam trilogy. He also found success with the science fiction films 7 Aum Arivu (2011) and 24 (2016) and then went on to work in critically acclaimed films like Soorarai Pottru (2020) and Jai Bhim (2021), the former of which earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor.
Suriya began Agaram Foundation, which funds various philanthropic activities, in 2006. In 2013, Suriya founded the production house 2D Entertainment. He is married to actress Jyothika, whom he co-starred with in 7 films.
Suriya was born as Saravanan on 23 July 1975 in Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, to actor Sivakumar and his wife Lakshmi. Suriya has two younger siblings, a brother Karthi, who is an actor and a sister Brindha, who is a playback singer. His mother tongue is Tamil.
Suriya attended Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan School and St. Bede's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Chennai. He later obtained his under graduate degree in B.Com from Loyola College, Chennai.
Prior to his career in films, Suriya worked at a garment exports factory for eight months. He did not reveal himself to his boss as Sivakumar's son, but his boss ultimately learnt the truth himself. He was initially offered the lead role by Vasanth in his film Aasai (1995), but he rejected the offer citing a lack of interest in an acting career and the offer went to Ajith Kumar. He later debuted in Vasanth's 1997 film Nerrukku Ner, produced by Mani Ratnam when he was 22 years of age. The stage name "Suriya" was bestowed to him by Ratnam to avoid a clash of names with established actor Saravanan. The name "Suriya" was frequently used for characters in Ratnam's films. Vijay, who co-starred with him in the film, would also go on to become a leading contemporary actor in Tamil cinema.
This was followed by a series of roles in commercially unsuccessful films in the late 1990s. In 1998, he starred in the romantic film Kaadhale Nimmadhi. In July the same year, he had another release Sandhippoma. Subsequently, he acted with Vijayakanth in the film Perianna (1999), directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. That year, he also appeared opposite Jyothika in Poovellam Kettuppar. A critic from The New Indian Express noted, "The-romantic part has little novelty, but Jyothika and Surya perform with bouncy exuberance." His only release in 2000 was Uyirile Kalanthathu, again opposite Jyothika. Suriya confessed that he struggled due to lack of confidence, memory power, fighting or dancing skills in his early career, but it was actor Raghuvaran, one of his mentors, who advised him to create his own identity, rather than stay under his father's shadow.
This series of failures was broken in 2001 when Suriya starred in two box office successes. He first starred in Siddique's comedy film Friends, also co-starring Vijay. His major break came with the action drama Nandhaa, which was directed by Bala. Playing the role of an ex-convict who is very attached to his mother, he received the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor for his performance, in addition to his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. S. R. Ashok Kumar from The Hindu noted, "Suriya as the young rustic man has reached a new milestone in acting." Suriya had three film releases in 2002: the romantic drama Unnai Ninaithu opposite Laila and Sneha, the action drama Sri opposite Shrutika and Gayatri Jayaraman, and the romantic drama Mounam Pesiyadhe opposite Trisha. His performance in Mounam Pesiyadhe received positive response and earned him his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.
Experimental roles and success (2003–2007)
The year 2003 proved to be a turning point in Suriya's career when he starred in Gautham Vasudev Menon's Kaakha Kaakha opposite Jyothika, a film about the life of a police officer. The film received positive reviews and Guru Subramaniam from Rediff.com stated, "Suriya as Anbu Selvan fits the role and this film is certainly a career high for him". The film emerged as Suriya's first major blockbuster at the box office and earned him his third nomination for the Filmfare Best Actor – Tamil Award. His portrayal of a happy-go-lucky village crook with a comic touch in Bala's Pithamagan, co-starring Vikram, won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Tamil. The film was a box office success too.
This success was followed by his dual roles in Perazhagan, as an aggressive boxer and a handicapped phone booth keeper. The film emerged as a commercial success at the box office, and won Suriya his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. Praising his performance, Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "At no point are you allowed to feel that it is the same actor who is playing the physically challenged Chinna and the rough, ardently-in-love Karthik — therein lies [Perazhagan's] strength". In the same year, he portrayed the role of a student leader in Mani Ratnam's political drama Aayutha Ezhuthu along with Madhavan and Siddarth. The film received high critical acclaim and was also commercially successful.
Maayavi opposite Jyothika was his first release of 2005. Suriya further consolidated his position with the psychological thriller, Ghajini directed by A. R. Murugadoss. Co-starring with Asin, he played the role of a businessman suffering from anterograde amnesia. Ghajini emerged as a blockbuster at the box office and was the third highest-grossing Tamil film of the year. Suriya's performance was unanimously praised, with a reviewer from Sify citing that "the film is driven by Suriya's riveting performance". The film was dubbed in Telugu under the same name and was again a box office success, earning him fame in Andhra Pradesh. Suriya received his fifth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for his performance in the film. The film established Suriya among the highest paid Tamil actors. Later that year, he worked in Hari's action film Aaru, which was moderately successful at the box office. A reviewer cited, "Suriya keeps you riveted to the seats with another wholesome effort".
In 2006, Suriya appeared in a cameo role in June R. Later that year, he starred opposite Jyothika and Bhumika Chawla in N. Krishna's film Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. The film took a strong opening. It had an average response from critics, but his performance was praised, with a reviewer citing, "Suriya pitches in with yet another fantastic performance, be it the responsible husband and father, or the cool dude at college". In 2007, his only release was director Hari's Vel, where he reunited with Asin, following Ghajini. The film, which featured him in dual roles, was commercially successful.
Continued commercial success and stardom (2008–2013)
Gautham Vasudev Menon's drama Vaaranam Aayiram was Suriya's only release of 2008 and was his second film with Menon post Kaakha Kaakha. Playing dual roles for the third time in his career, Suriya appeared as father and son, with both characters demanding scenes shot throughout their lives ranging from scenes as a 16-year-old to scenes as a 65-year-old. During the production of the film, Suriya described the project as "unique" and "straight from the heart", describing the physical hardships he endured during the making. He lost weight and prepared a six pack for the film through an eight-month fitness regime without steroids. The film featured him opposite Simran, Sameera Reddy and Divya Spandana and became commercially successful at the box office upon release. Pavithra Srinivasan labelled the film as his "magnum opus", citing that he is "perfect" and that the film for him is a "justified triumph". Similarly, critics cited his performance as "outstanding" and claimed that the film "works because of his performance", whilst other reviewers claimed the film was an "out and out Suriya show". His performance earned him his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize and the Vijay Award for Best Actor.
In 2009, Suriya's first release was K. V. Anand's action-thriller Ayan, where he played a smuggler. He appeared alongside Tamannaah Bhatia. The film was shot extensively across Tanzania, Namibia, Malaysia and India and featured acrobatic stunts by Suriya, without the use of a stunt double. Upon release, it received positive reviews, with critics citing the film as a "must watch" and Suriya's performance was yet again acclaimed and he found himself nominated for leading awards and won the Vijay Award for Entertainer of the Year, in addition to his seventh nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. The film's success saw him emerge as the most profitable leading actor in Tamil films, following a hattrick of large commercial hits, with film journals suggesting that his success was due to "experiments within the commercial format" and he was successful in "avoiding being typecast". Ayan was the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2009. His next film, K. S. Ravikumar's action entertainer Aadhavan also achieved commercial success, while Suriya's depiction of a hitman was praised. A critic from Sify labelled it as an "out and out Suriya show", stating that "the film rides on the magic of the actor, and his zany shenanigans alone makes it worth a watch" and Rediff.com cited that "he sings, dances, and fights with absolute sincerity, but when he looks at you with tears in his eyes in an emotional scene tailor-made for him, the applause hits the roof", concluding that it is "completely his film".
Suriya's first release of 2010 was his 25th film, Singam directed by Hari, in which he played the role of a police officer, starring alongside Anushka Shetty. The film received positive reviews with The Hindu reviewer noting, "Suriya shows that be it a performance-oriented role or a formulaic concoction he can deliver", while Sify stated, "Ultimately it is Suriya who carries the film to the winning post. His passion and the way he brings an ordinary regular larger-than-life hero character alive on screen is lesson for other commercial heroes." The film won Suriya his second Vijay Award for Best Entertainer, in addition to his eighth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil, and subsequently went on to become the second highest-grossing film of the year. Suriya expanded to Telugu and Hindi films with Ram Gopal Varma's political drama Rakta Charitra. The film was released in Tamil as Ratha Sarithiram, which was partly dubbed and partly reshot. Rajeev Masand noted, "The film belongs to Suriya, and is watchable only for the sheer presence of the Southern star, and for the intensity he brings to his part." Suriya then appeared alongside R. Madhavan and Trisha in a song in Manmadhan Ambu.
Following two special appearances in 2011, in K. V. Anand's Ko and Bala's Avan Ivan, Suriya featured in AR Murugadoss's science fiction action thriller 7 Aum Arivu. He co-starred with Shruti Haasan and played dual roles, as a circus artist and as the Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma, who lived in the 6th century. His performance earned him his ninth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. The film met with mixed reviews, but was a commercial success and became his first film to gross above ₹1 billion. N. Venkateswaran noted, "If the movie deserves a look, it is only because of the ever-dependable Suriya. He is a treat to watch as Bodhidharma."
