Suriya

Name: Saravanan Sivakumar

Nickname: Suriya

Birthday:  23rd July 1975

Known For: Suriya, who has become of the best actors in the South, was shared that he struggled due to a lack of confidence, memory power, fighting, or dancing skills in his early career.

Height: 5’7”

Weight: 72kg

Debut Film: Nerukku Ner

Marital Status: Married

Spouse: Jyothika

Children: Diya, Dev

Relationships: Jyothika

Awards: CineMAA Award for Best Actor – Tamil, 4 Filmfare Awards South for Best Actor – Tamil, Filmfare Award South for Best Supporting Actor – Tamil, Filmfare Award South for Best Actor (Critics) – Tamil, International Tamil Film Award for Best Actor, 2 South Indian International Movie Awards for Best Film – Tamil

Zodiac: Leo

Biography:

Saravanan Sivakumar, called by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter, and philanthropist. He is best known for his work in Tamil cinema, where he is one of the highest-paid actors. Suriya in Chennai to actor Sivakumar and his wife Lakshmi.

Before his career in films, Suriya worked at a garment exports factory for eight months. To avoid nepotism, he did not reveal himself to his boss as Sivakumar’s son. He was initially offered the lead role by Vasanth in his film Aasai in 1995, but he rejected the offer citing a lack of interest in an acting career.

He later debuted in Vasanth’s own 1997 film NerrukkuNer, 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 would also go on to become a leading contemporary actor in Kollywood, co-starred with him in the film.

This was followed by a series of roles in commercially unsuccessful films in the late 1990s. In 1998, Suriya starred in the romantic film, KaadhaleNimmadhi. In July the same year, he had another release Sandhippoma. Subsequently, he acted with Vijayakanth in the film Periyanna in 1999, directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar.

He then appeared twice with Jyothika in PoovellamKettuppar in 1999) and UyirileKalanthathu in 2000. In 2001, he starred in Siddique’s comedy film Friends, also co-starring Vijay.

Suriya confessed that he struggled due to a 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.

The actor’s major break came in the form of Nandha, which was directed by Bala. He received a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. His next venture was Vikraman’sUnnaiNinaithu followed by Shree and MounamPesiyadhe directed by Ameer Sultan.

In 2003, he starred in GauthamVasudevMenon’sKaakhaKaakha, a film about the life of a police officer. The film opened to positive reviews and became Suriya’s first biggest blockbuster. His portrayal of a happy-go-lucky village crook with a comic touch in Bala’sPithamagan, along with Vikram, won him Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Tamil and the film did well commercially.

In 2004, he played dual roles in Perazhagan. Suriya’s performance won positive reviews from critics. The film became a successful venture at the box office, and the actor won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. The same year, he portrayed the role of a student leader in Mani Ratnam’s political drama AaythaEzhuthu along with Madhavan and Siddarth which received high critical acclaim.

Suriya next signed on to feature in the psychological thriller, Ghajini directed by A. R. Murugadoss in 2004. Ghajini was released in late 2005 and became a Blockbuster and was the third highest-grossing film of that year in Tamil. Suriya’s role was unanimously praised, and the film was dubbed in Telugu under the same name and was a box office success, earning him a name in Andhra Pradesh.

Later he worked in Hari’s action film Aaru, and the film received a moderate response at the box office. His performance fetched positive reviews. In 2006, he starred with Jyothika and BhumikaChawla in N. Krishna’s film SillunuOruKaadhal. The film took a strong opening, average reception but his performance was praised. In 2007, his only release was director Hari’sVel, where he was paired with Asin for the second time after Ghajini. The film, which featured him in dual roles, was commercially successful.

Suriya’s next release was a collaboration with GauthamVasudevMenon, after the success of KaakhaKaakha, Suriya began work on Menon’s biopic VaaranamAayiram in 2008. He lost weight and prepared a six-pack for the film through an eight-month fitness regime without steroids, with the movie being a trend-setter for other leading actors from South India.

The film, which also featured Simran, Sameera Reddy, and DivyaSpandana in prominent roles, became commercially successful at the box office upon release as well as receiving positive reviews from film critics, with Suriya’s performance being lauded.

His portrayals also fetched him several notable awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor by the jury, and also the Vijay Award for Best Actor. The film also went on to receive a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.

In 2009, Suriya’s first release was K. V. Anand’s action-thriller Ayan. With Suriya portraying the role of a smuggler, the film also featured Prabhu as his guardian and Tamannaah Bhatia as the lead actress. 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, the film won positive reviews citing that the film was 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. The film’s success saw Suriya emerge as the most profitable leading actor in Tamil films, following a hat trick of large commercial hits, 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. In 2010, he had his 25th release with Singam directed by Hari. The film received positive reviews and won Suriya the Vijay Award for Best Entertainer again and saw him being nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil again, and subsequently went on to become the second highest-grossing film of the year.

He made his Telugu and Hindi debut in the second part of Ram GopalVarma’s political drama RaktaCharitra in 2010. Suriya subsequently went on to appear as himself in three consecutive guest appearances, appearing alongside Trisha and Madhavan in a song in ManmadhanAmbu in 2010, before also starring in K. V. Anand’sKo and Bala’sAvan Ivan in 2011.

His only release in 2011 was A. R. Murugadoss’s science fiction thriller 7aum Arivu. The film met with mixed reception, but was a commercial success and became the actor’s first work to gross above ₹1 billion. His 2012 release was the K. V. Anand directed Maattrraan. The film received mixed reviews, and the film ended up being an average grosser while Suriya’s performance is praised along with technical aspects and VFX.

In 2012, Suriya was named as the official host of the new game show to be presented on STAR Vijay, NeengalumVellalamOruKodi, the Tamil version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which began airing on 27 February 2012 and ended on 12 July. His next film was Singam II, a sequel to his 2010 film Singam, that released in 2013 to mixed responses from critics. However, the film received a huge opening and emerged as one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time.

Suriya was once again acclaimed for his portrayal of DuraiSinga, and his performance was hailed. Singam II was a box office hit. He had signed on to feature in GauthamVasudevMenon’s film DhruvaNatchathiram and reportedly waited for six months to start filming. However, in October 2013, he backed out due to lagging of the project and differences with the director.

Suriya’s next film Anjaan directed by N. Lingusamy was released in 2014 to mixed reviews. His next release was VenkatPrabhu’s film MassuEngiraMasilamani (Masss) which was released to mixed reviews but critics were all in praise for the actor’s performance.

He next starred in was 24 directed by Vikram Kumar which was released in 2016. The film is based on the concept of time travel and received mixed reviews. Suriya won Filmfare awards for critics’ choice of best actor and become one of few actors of Indian Cinema to win all awards under Actor Category. Also, the movie collected around ₹1 billion in 18 days.

His next film S3 was released in 2017 and emerged as another ₹1 billion grosser. His only release in 2018 was Thaana SerndhaKootam directed by VigneshShivan. The Telugu dubbed version received praise for Suriya’s dubbing. The first of his two releases in 2019, Selvaraghavan’s NGK, and the second, K. V. Anand’sKaappaan marked the third time he collaborated with the director. Although, the film received mixed reviews from critics, it ended up being a commercial success and yet another ₹1 billion grosser for the actor.

His next film, SooraraiPottru, was based on the life of Air Deccan founder Captain G. R. Gopinath. It was released directly on Amazon Prime Video in 2020, with positive reports. It is currently the fourth highest-rated film on IMDb and has a rating of 9.1/10.

Suriya’s next work was Navarasa, a Netflix anthology series produced by Mani Ratnam. It was released in 2021. He acted in the episode Guitar KambiMeleNindru, directed by GauthamVasudevMenon. He then played Justice K. Chandru in T. J. Gnanavel’s Jai Bhim. The film, its production, was distributed by Amazon Prime Video on 2 November 2021. It is currently the highest-rated film on IMDb and has a rating of 9.3/10.

Controversy: After his movie, Jai Bhim, was released, the actor was caught in a controversy after facing backlash for the Vanniyar community in Tamil Nadu in poor light. It was said that Suriya was issued a legal notice from The Vanniyar Sangam.

Latest News: Recently, Suriya made the news after his latest movie, Jai Bhim, was nominated for India’s Critics Choice Awards 2022. The movie is nominated under the  category of Best Film.

Latest Movies: Jai Bhim

Latest Series: Navarasa

Upcoming Movies: Etharkkum Thunindhavan