Suriya
Suriya (born
Saravanan Sivakumar on 23 July 1975) is an Indian
film actor,
producer and
television presenter, who is currently working in the
Tamil film industry.
[2] He has worked in 30 films in various
genres as a lead actor till date. After making his debut in
Nerukku Ner (1997), he went on to feature in several critical and commercial successes, most notably
Nandha (2001),
Kaakha Kaakha (2003),
Perazhagan (2004),
Ghajini (2005),
Vaaranam Aayiram(2008),
Ayan (2009),
Singam (2010) and
Singam II (2013). As of 2010,
[3] he has won three
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three
Filmfare Awards South. He was listed #33 in
Forbes India's "Celebrity 100 List" for the year 2013.
[4]
Early life and family[edit]
Suriya is married to Jyothika, who was also a popular actress, with whom he was paired in films such as
Kaakha Kaakha,
Perazhagan and
Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. The couple, after being together for several years, officially got married on 11 September 2006.
[9] They have two children, a daughter named Diya (b. 10 August 2007) and a son Dev (b. 7 June 2010).
[10][11] Jyothika has quit acting since their marriage and became a full-time housewife, but made a comeback with the 2015 film
36 Vayathinile.
1997–2002: Early career[edit]
Before his career in films, Suriya worked at a garment exports factory for 6 months without revealing his identity as the son of a well-known actor.
[12][13] 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.
[8] He later debuted in the 1997 film
Nerrukku Ner directed by
Vasanth and produced by
Mani Ratnam when he was 22.
Joseph Vijay, who would also go on to become a leading contemporary actor in Kollywood, co-starred with him in the film.
[14] This was followed by a series of roles in commercially unsuccessful films in the late 1990s. In 2001, he starred in
Siddique's comedy film
Friends, also co-starring
Vijay.
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
Sivakumar's shadow.
[15]
2003–07[edit]
In 2003, he starred in
Gautham Menon's
Kaakha Kaakha, a film about the life of a police officer. The film opened to positive reviews with a critic from
Rediff.com claiming that "Surya as Anbu Selvan fits the role and this film is certainly a career high for him".
[2] His portrayal of a happy-go-lucky village crook with a comic touch in
Bala's
Pithamagan, along with
Vikram, won him
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Tamil and the film did well commercially.
[17] In 2004, he played dual roles in
Perazhagan, as an aggressive boxer and a handicapped phone booth keeper. Suriya's performance won positive reviews from critics with a reviewer describing it as "Surya deserves appreciation for his astounding performance. He is at his best be it humor or action. The actor has scored a hat trick".
[18] The film became a successful venture at the box office
[19] and Suriya won his first
Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.
[20] The same year, he portrayed the role of a student leader in
Mani Ratnam's political drama
Aaytha Ezhuthu along with
Madhavan and
Siddarth which was largely applauded by critics.
Suriya signed on to feature in the psychological thriller,
Ghajini directed by
A. R. Murugadoss in November 2004; he played the role of a patient suffering from short-term memory loss.
Ghajini released in late 2005 and became the third highest grossing film of that year in Tamil. Suriya's role was unanimously praised, with a reviewer from
Sify citing that "the film is driven by Surya’s riveting performance".
[21] Later he worked in
Hari's action film
Aaru and the film received a moderate response at the box office.
[22] His performance fetched positive reviews with a reviewer citing that "Surya keeps you riveted to the seats with another wholesome effort".
[23]
In 2006, he starred with
Jyothika and
Bhumika Chawla in
N. Krishna's film
Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. The film took a strong opening, but soon faded out and became a flop.
[24][25] But his performance was praised, with a reviewer from
Sify citing that "Surya pitches in with yet another fantastic performance, be it the responsible husband and father, or the cool dude at college".
[26] In 2007, his only release was director
Hari's
Vel, where he was paired with
Asin for the second time after
Ghajini. The film, which featured him in dual roles, was commercially successful.
[27]
2008–2010[edit]
His next release was a collaboration with
Gautham Menon, after the success of
Kaakha Kaakha, Suriya began work on Menon's biopic
Vaaranam Aayiram in November 2008.
[28] Playing dual roles for the third time in his career, Suriya appeared as father and son, with both characters also 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.
[29] 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.
[30][31] The film, which also featured
Simran,
Sameera Reddy and
Divya Spandana 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. A critic from
Rediff labelled the film as his "magnum opus", citing that he is "perfect" and that the film for him is a "justified triumph".
[32] Similarly, critics cited Suriya's 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".
[33][34] 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 for 2008.
[35] The film also went on to receive a
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil for 2008.
[36]
In 2009, Suriya's first release was
K. V. Anand's action-thriller
Ayan, which went on to become the highest grossing Tamil film of the year. 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.
[37] 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.
[38] The film's success saw Suriya emerge as the most profitable leading actor in Tamil films, following a hat trick 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".
[39]
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.com 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".
[40][41] In 2010, he had his 25th release with
Singamdirected by
Hari, in which he played the role of a police officer from a small village going to work in the city. The film opened to positive reviews with
The Hindu noting that "Suriya shows that be it a performance-oriented role or a formulaic concoction he can deliver", while Sify.com 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."
[42][43] The film won Suriya the Vijay Award for Best Entertainer again and saw him nominated for the
Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil again, and subsequently went on to become the second highest grossing film of the year.
[44]He made his
Bollywood debut in
Ram Gopal Varma's two-part political drama
Rakta Charitra in 2010. Suriya subsequently went on to appear as himself in three consecutive guest appearances, appearing alongside
Trisha and
Madhavan in a song in
Manmadhan Ambu (2010), before also starring in
K. V. Anand's
Ko and
Bala's
Avan Ivan (2011).
2011–present[edit]
His only release in 2011 that featured him in a starring role was
A. R. Murugadoss's science fiction thriller
7aum Arivu. Suriya played dual roles in the film, as a circus artist and as the Buddhist monk named
Bodhidharma, who lived in the 6th century. The film met with mixed reception, but was a commercial success.
[45][46] His 2012 release was the
K. V. Ananddirected
Maattrraan in which he played the role of
conjoined twins, Vimalan and Akhilan. The film received mixed reviews
[47]and the film ended up being an average grosser.
[48]
In January 2012, Suriya was named as the official host of the new game show to be presented on
STAR Vijay,
Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi, the Tamil version of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which began airing on 27 February 2012 and ended on 12 July.
[49] His next film was
Singam II, a sequel to his 2010 film
Singam, that released on 5 July 2013 to mixed responses from critics. However, the film received a huge opening and emerged one of the
highest grossing Tamil films of all time.
[50] Suriya was once again acclaimed for his portrayal of Durai Singam and his performance was hailed as "the film's backbone".
[51] He had signed on to feature in
Gautham Menon's film
Dhruva Natchathiram 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.
[52] His next film
Anjaan directed by
N. Lingusamy was released on 15 August 2014 to negative reviews, but was a moderate commercial success.
[53] He is currently working on
Venkat Prabhu's film
Masss.
[54]
Other work[edit]
Suriya and Jyothika, along with their kids, Diya and Dev launching
36 Vayathinile in 2015
In 2008, Suriya began the Agaram Foundation,
[59] working to help children who drop out of school early in
Tamil Nadu. With the Ministry of Education in Tamil Nadu, he created a short commercial video outlining child poverty, labour and lack of education, titled
Herova? Zerova?[60]. The film was written and produced by Sivakumar and also starred
Joseph Vijay,
R. Madhavan and
Jyothika. Agaram has sponsored 159 underprevileged students in 2010 for their higher education in various disciplines. With the firm belief that the educated mind can not only eliminate social evils but also aid in the socio-economic upbringing of society, Agaram Foundation works towards providing appropriate learning opportunities to the rural populace who do not otherwise have access to quality education. Suriya, along with his father and brother, has also extended help towards the education of
Sri Lankan Tamil children on behalf of the Sivakumar Charitable Trust.
[59] He is also an active participant in other philanthropic works such as "Save The Tigers" campaign, which aids in the protection and preservation of Tigers in India, and "REACH", a non-profit that cures
TB patients for free using supervised medication programs. The actor celebrates every birthday by doing charity work across Tamil Nadu.
In 2013, during his 38th birthday celebrations, some of his fans requested Suriya to enter politics. He apparently discussed the same with his father Sivakumar who was of the opinion that apart from the late matinee idol
MGR, no Tamil film actor can "shine" in politics and advised his son to stay focused on acting and excel in it.
[61] In an interview with the
Bangalore Mirror,
Disney UTV's head of business in South India,
G. Dhananjayan credited Suriya as the "biggest star" in contemporary Tamil film and claimed it was mainly because of his popularity among Telugu and Malayalam speaking audience.
[62]
Filmography[edit]
Key
 | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
As a producer[edit]
Suriya turned as producer with his production house called 2D Entertainment.
As a playback singer[edit]
