36 Facts About Sathyaraj

Sathyaraj started his career in antagonistic roles and later played lead roles.

Sathyaraj met with success through lead performances in Vedham Pudhithu, Nadigan, Amaidhi Padai, Periyar and Onbadhu Roobai Nottu.

Sathyaraj received acclaim for supporting roles in Nanban, Raja Rani, Baahubali, Baahubali 2 and Kanaa.

Sathyaraj was the director of the film Villadhi Villain, starring himself in three different roles.

Sathyaraj has served as a brand ambassador for Pothys, Susi Emu farms, and Kumaran jewellery Shop.

Sathyaraj was born as Rangaraj on 3 October 1954 to Subbiah, a doctor, and Nathambal, with two younger sisters, namely Kalpana Mandradiar and Roopa Senapathy.

Sathyaraj is an ardent fan of M G Ramachandran and Hindi actor Rajesh Khanna.

Sathyaraj completed his primary school education in St Mary's Convent school, Coimbatore and later studied for tenth standard from Suburban High School, Ramnagar, Coimbatore.

Sathyaraj went to Government Arts College, Coimbatore, for a Bachelor of Science degree in botany.

Sathyaraj's dream was to become an actor, but his mother was against it and forbid him to join cinema.

Sathyaraj's first film as the leading hero in Tamil was Saavi in 1985, which was a box office success.

Sathyaraj acted in about 75 films from 1978 to 1985, most of which featured Sathyaraj in antagonist roles.

Sathyaraj's acting skills in the film were noticed by many and he became famous among the Tamil film audience.

Sathyaraj felt that his villainous roles in Nooravathu Naal and Anbin Mugavari, both again directed by Manivannan, had better footage than that of Vijayakanth's and Mohan's.

Sathyaraj started receiving offers to act as the hero in Tamil films from 1985.

Sathyaraj acted as Rajinikanth's father in the film, though he was in fact 4 years younger than Rajinikanth.

Manivannan, being friends with Sathyaraj, kept casting him in roles in his directorial ventures, regularly showcasing different emotions from Sathyaraj in films such as Muthal Vasantham, Palaivana Rojakkal and Vidinja Kalyanam.

Sathyaraj received the Best Tamil Actor award in Filmfare Awards South for his performance in Vedham Pudhithu.

Sathyaraj played a bespectacled leading man in the commercially successful Ganam Courtaar Avargaley His 99th film was Dravidan and his 100th film was Vaathiyaar Veettu Pillai but the latter fared better at the box office.

Sathyaraj had few unsuccessful films such as Madurai Veeran Enga Saami, Magudam, Pangali and Kattalai in this period as he became selective of choosing his roles as main lead hero.

Sathyaraj played a dual role as father and son in the box office hit Amaithipadai, which is considered among his best performances.

Sathyaraj said that he almost did not sign up for the film as it was an antagonist character and he had moved away from antagonist roles and "gained some respectability" with films such as Poovizhi Vaasalile, Vedham Pudhidhu and Walter Vetrivel.

Sathyaraj acted, produced and directed in his 125th film Villadhi Villain, which had him in three distinct roles and it was a successful project.

Sathyaraj's pairing opposite actress Khushbu and Meena became popular in this decade.

The box office hits of the pair Kushboo-Sathyaraj include Nadigan, Bramma, Rickshaw Mama, Kalyana Galatta, Suyamvaram and Malabar Police.

Sathyaraj re-invented himself as a romantic hero with the 2002 film Vivaramana Aalu, as a hero Maaran and with his performance in the comedy film Aalukkoru Aasai in 2003.

Sathyaraj's 2004 film Sema Ragalai opposite Devayani was a hit at box office.

Sathyaraj co-starred with his son Sibiraj for the first time in Jore which was average.

Sathyaraj then acted with his son in 3 more films Mannin Maindhan, Vetrivel Sakthivel and Kovai Brothers, in which the two were seen as brothers and these were commercially successful.

Sathyaraj makes a comeback to Tollywood after a long time in the action comedy movie Sankham.

Sathyaraj ventured into Telugu cinema after long time as a supporting actor in Sankham in 2009 and later did Mirchi in 2012, both of which were successful.

Sathyaraj played the role of Kattappa in Baahubali: The Beginning and has reprised the role in the sequel Baahubali: The Conclusion.

Sathyaraj acted as lead role in the film Oru Naal Iravil.

Sathyaraj played the role of DC Ratnavel "Randy", a Police officer in the film Mersal directed by Atlee.

In 1979, Sathyaraj married Maheswari, niece of producer Madhampatti Sivakumar, and had two children, daughter Divya and son Sibiraj, an actor.

Manivannan died in 2013 and Sathyaraj has said that just 24 hours before his death they had discussed their next project and that he narrated him a story.