Suriya is an Indian actor and film producer who works primarily in Tamil cinema. He made a commercially successful cinematic debut in Vasanth's Nerrukku Ner (1997). After few critical and commercial failures, Suriya collaborated with Vasanth again in Poovellam Kettuppar (1999), his first film with his future wife Jyothika.

In 2001, Suriya starred in Bala's Nandhaa as an ex-convict trying to find his place in society. The film was critically acclaimed and became a turning point in his career. His roles as a police officer in Gautham Vasudev Menon's Kaakha Kaakha (which became his first blockbuster) and a con artist in Bala's Pithamagan, established him as one of Tamil cinema's leading actors. Suriya's performances in both films were praised, winning him a Best Actor nomination for the former and the Best Supporting Actor for Pithamagan at the 51st Filmfare Awards South. The following year, he played dual roles—a hunchback and a college student—in Perazhagan. Suriya's performance was again praised, and he received his first Filmfare Best Actor award. He was also acclaimed for his performance as a student leader in Mani Ratnam's Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004).

In 2005, Suriya starred in three films: Maayavi, Ghajini and Aaru. His performance in Ghajini as a businessman with anterograde amnesia was widely praised, and was commercially successful. Maayavi and Aaru were moderately successful. Suriya then appeared in Vaaranam Aayiram (2008). His dual role as father and son earned him another Filmfare Best Actor award. Suriya's next three films were Ayan (2009), Aadhavan (2009) and Singam (2010). The latter, which was his most commercially successful film spawned two sequels: Singam II (2013) and Si3 (2017). Suriya made his Hindi and Telugu cinema debuts in Ram Gopal Varma's gangster film Rakta Charitra 2 (2010).

Suriya then played the Buddhist monk and creator of Shaolin Kung Fu, Bodhidharma, and his fictional descendant Aravind, in 7 Aum Arivu (2011). His only 2012 release was Maattrraan, in which he played conjoined twins. In 2015, Suriya released 36 Vayadhinile, the first film from his 2D Entertainment production company. He played three roles for the first time in Vikram Kumar's successful science fiction film 24 (2016). His performance won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. Following Thaana Serndha Koottam (2018) and Kaappaan (2019), he worked in the acclaimed direct-to-streaming films Soorarai Pottru (2020) and Jai Bhim (2021). For Soorarai Pottru, Suriya won the National Film Award for Best Actor.

Film All films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.

As actor + List of Suriya film credits as actorYearTitle Role Notes 1997 Nerrukku Ner Suriya 1998 Kaadhale Nimmadhi Chandru Sandhippoma Vishwa Santhosh 1999 Perianna Suriya Poovellam Kettuppar Krishna Bharathi 2000 Uyirile Kalanthathu Suriya 2001 Friends Chandru Nandhaa Nandhaa 2002 Unnai Ninaithu Suriya Sri Sri Mounam Pesiyadhe Gautham 2003 Kaakha Kaakha Anbuselvan Pithamagan Sakthivel 2004 Perazhagan Chinna (Prem Kumar) and Karthik Aayutha Ezhuthu Michael Vasanth 2005 Maayavi Abhes Balayya Ghajini Sanjay Ramaswamy (Manohar) Aaru Aarumugam (Aaru) 2006 June R Raja Cameo Sillunu Oru Kaadhal Gautham 2007 Vel Vetrivel and Vasudevan 2008 Kuselan Himself Guest appearance in the song "Cinema Cinema" Vaaranam Aayiram Krishnan and Suriya 2009 Ayan Devaraj Velusamy (Deva) Aadhavan Madhavan Subramaniam (Aadhavan) 2010 Singam Durai Singam 25th film Rakta Charitra 2 Yeturi Suryanarayana Reddy Manmadan Ambu Himself Guest appearance in the song "Oyyale" 2011 Ko Guest appearance in the song "Aga Naga" Avan Ivan Guest appearance 7 Aum Arivu Bodhidharma and Aravind 2012 Maattrraan Akhilan and Vimalan Ramachandran 2013 Chennaiyil Oru Naal Himself Guest appearance Singam II Durai Singam 2014 Ninaithathu Yaaro Himself Guest appearance Anjaan Raju Bhai (Krishna) 2015 Massu Engira Masilamani Masilamani (Mass) and Sakthivel (Sakthi) Pasanga 2 Dr. Thamizh Nadan 2016 24Athreya, Manikandan and Sethuraman 2017 Si3 Durai Singam 2018 Thaanaa Serndha KoottamNachinarkiniyan (Iniyan) / Uthaman Kadaikutty Singam Himself Guest appearance 2019 NGK Nandha Gopalan Kumaran (NGK)Kaappaan Kathiravan (Kathir) 2020 Soorarai Pottru Nedumaaran Rajangam (Maara)2021 Jai Bhim K. Chandru 2022Etharkkum Thunindhavan A. R. Kannabiran Vikram Rolex Cameo Rocketry: The Nambi Effect Himself Guest appearance 2024Sarfira Unnamed businessmanMid-credits cameo; Hindi filmKanguva Kanguva and Francis Theodore 2025Retro Paarivel "Paari" Kannan (Jada Muni) 2026Karuppu Karuppuswamy / Saravanan Vishwanath & Sons Sanjay Vishwanathscope= "row" DSP Inbaraj Post-production 2027scope= "row" TBAFilming

As producer

+ List of Suriya film credits as producer Year Title Notes 2015 36 Vayadhinile Pasanga 2 2016 24 2017 Magalir Mattum 2018 Kadaikutty Singam 2019 Uriyadi 2 Jackpot 2020 Ponmagal Vandhal Soorarai Pottru2021 Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum Udanpirappe Jai Bhim 2022Oh My Dog Viruman 2024Sarfira Hindi film Meiyazhagan 2025RetroCo-produced with JyothikaLeading Light Documentary 2026scope= "row"

Voice actor + List of Suriya film credits as a voice actor Year Title Actor Notes 2007 Guru Abhishek BachchanTamil dubbed versionTaare Zameen Par Aamir Khan 2017 Ghazi Narrator for the Tamil dubbed version 2020Ponmagal Vandhal Narrator

As distributor + List of Suriya film credits as distributor Year Title Notes 2013 Singam II2017 Kadugu 2019 Sillu Karuppatti2022Gargi 2026My Lord

Television

+ List of Suriya television creditsYearTitle RoleNetwork Notes 2012–2013 Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi Himself Star Vijay 2021Navarasa Kamal Netflix Episode: "Guitar Kambi Mele Nindru" 2024Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale Himself Netflix

Discography + List of Suriya film music credits Year Film Song Notes 2014 Anjaan "Ek Do Teen" Composed by Yuvan Shankar RajaCo-sang with Andrea Jeremiah Party "Cha Cha Charey" Composed by Premgi AmaranCo-sang with Karthi, Kharesma Ravichandran, Venkat Prabhu and Premgi Amaren 2020Soorarai Pottru "Maara Theme" Composed by G. V. Prakash KumarAakaasam Nee Haddhu Ra "Maha Theme"Telugu dubbed version 2025Retro "Love Detox" Composed by Santhosh Narayanan 2026 Vishwanath & Sons "The Wedding Song" Tamil and Telugu version; Composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar

Music video appearances + List of Suriya music video credits Year Title Role Performer(s) Notes 2016 "Spirit of Chennai" Himself C. Girinandh 2017 "Maatrangal Ondre Dhaan"

Short film + List of Suriya short film credits Year Title Role Notes 2005Inaintha Kaigal Himself 2008Herova? Zerova? HimselfAlso producer

See also List of awards and nominations received by Suriya

Notes

References

External links