Suriya

Suriya  is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He has received numerous awards including two National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South and five Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.  Suriya has featured six times in the Celebrity 100 list of Forbes India, which takes into account the earnings of Indian celebrities.

After making his debut in Nerukku Ner (1997) at the age of 22, Suriya landed his breakthrough role in Nandha (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 7aum 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 is the elder son of actor Sivakumar and his younger brother Karthi is also an actor. In 2006, he married actress Jyothika whom he co-starred with in 7 films. In 2008, he began Agaram Foundation, which funds various philanthropic activities. The year 2012 marked his debut as a television presenter with the Star Vijay game show Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi, the Tamil version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. In 2013, Suriya founded the production house 2D Entertainment.

Early life and family

Suriya was born as Saravanan on 23 July 1975 in Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, to actor Sivakumar and his wife Lakshmi. He attended Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan School  and St. Bede’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Chennai,  and obtained his under graduate degree B.Com from Loyola College, Chennai. Suriya has two younger siblings, a brother Karthi and a sister Brindha. His mother tongue is Tamil.

Suriya is married to long-time girlfriend, actress Jyothika. The couple, after dating for several years, got married on 11 September 2006.  They have two children, a daughter and a son.

Career

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 later debuted in Vasanth’s own 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 Kollywood.

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 Periyanna (1999), directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. He then appeared twice with Jyothika in Poovellam Kettuppar (1999) and Uyirile Kalanthathu (2000). In 2001, he starred in Siddique’s comedy film Friends, also co-starring Vijay, which became a commercial success.

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.

His major break came in the form of the action drama Nandha, which was directed by Bala. Playing the role of an ex-convict who is very attached to his mother, he received a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor, in addition to his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.[26] His next venture was Vikraman’s romantic drama Unnai Ninaithu followed by the action drama Sri and the romantic drama Mounam Pesiyadhe directed by Ameer Sultan, the lattermost of which earned him his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.

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?. It began airing on 27 February 2012 and ended on 12 July. His next film was Singam II, a sequel to his 2010 film Singam. The film released on 5 July 2013 to mixed reviews from critics. However, the film received a huge opening and emerged one of the highest grossing Tamil films of all time.  Suriya was once again acclaimed for his portrayal of Durai Singam and his performance was hailed as “the film’s backbone”.  Singam II was a box office hit and became his second ₹1 billion grosser.  Suriya received his eleventh nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for his performance in the film. Suriya distributed the film through his production company 2D Entertainment, founded in 2013. He had signed on to feature in Gautham Vasudev Menon’s film Dhruva Natchathiram and reportedly waited for six months to start filming. However, in October 2013, he backed out due to differences with the director and the project lagging too much.  In a 2013 interview with the Bangalore Mirror, film producer G. Dhananjayan called Suriya as the “biggest star” in contemporary Tamil cinema and claimed it was mainly because his popularity extended to Telugu and Malayalam speaking audiences as well.

Humanitarian and social causes

Suriya has been a patron of Tamil Nadu Kidney Research Foundation since 2007. In the same year, he also acted in a short film on AIDS awareness. He has also lent his voice to other noble causes 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.  In 2019, Suriya criticised the union government’s Draft National Education Policy (NEP), claiming that several of its features would affect students from rural areas. He said the policy sought to impose entrance and qualifying examination on students and the three language formula in Tamil Nadu. His statements were criticized by BJP and AIADMK leaders.

Suriya issued a statement on National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in September 2020 after three students committed suicide. He criticized the government for enacting laws that created inequalities and criticized the judiciary saying that “while the court is run through video conferencing, they have ordered students to take the exams in person during COVID-19”. He compared NEET to “manuneethi” and a tale in the Mahabharata in which Drona demanded Ekalavya’s thumb as payment for training, going on to suggest that “the skills and abilities of our children should not be determined by one test”. He asked people to raise their voice against the NEET which “prevents medical courses to students from normal families”.  While Madras High Court judge S.M. Balasubramaniam urged the chief justice to take contempt action against Suriya, this was opposed by six retired judges.  Suriya’s wife Jyothika had on a separate occasion requested to contribute to schools and hospitals the same as temples. Although the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other right-wing organisations condemned them, they garnered widespread support from people advocating equality in access to healthcare and education.

Philanthropy

In 2006, Suriya began Agaram Foundation, working to help children who drop out of school early in Tamil Nadu. Suriya revealed that he was inspired to begin the movement as a result of his father’s own organisation, Sivakumar Educational Trust, which had been operating similar benefits on a smaller scale since the 1980s. With the Ministry of Education in Tamil Nadu, the foundation created a short commercial video outlining child poverty, labour and lack of education, titled Herova? Zerova?.  The film was written and produced by Sivakumar and also starred Vijay, Madhavan and Jyothika. Agaram sponsored 159 underprivileged students in 2010 for their higher education in various disciplines, and has continued to provide free seats and accommodation for pupils. Agaram Foundation works towards providing appropriate learning opportunities to the rural populace who do not otherwise have access to quality education. Through the foundation, Suriya has also managed to set up a platform for students to participate in workshops and improve communication skills, teamwork, goal setting and leadership.

Other work

In 2004, Suriya was Pepsi’s brand ambassador in Tamil Nadu along with R. Madhavan. He was chosen to represent TVS Motors, Sunfeast Biscuits and Aircel in 2006. He had endorsed Saravana Stores,  Bharathi Cements and Emami Navaratna products in 2010.  In 2011, he had signed new deals with Nescafe, Close-Up and Zandu Balm, for the latter of which he appeared with actress Malaika Arora. In 2012, Suriya endorsed Malabar Gold and Diamonds. The commercials for Aircel and Nescafe featured Suriya and his wife Jyothika together.  In 2013, he was honored at the Edison Awards as the Best Male Endorser in South India.  In 2014, he promoted Complan energy drinks. In 2015, Suriya was named as the brand ambassador for Quikr and Intex Moblies. Based on the earnings of Indian celebrities, Suriya was included in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list for 2012,  2013,  2015, 2016, and 2018.His peak ranking on the list was #25 in the year 2017.