Suriya received numerous awards including two National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and two South Indian International Movie Awards.
46 Facts About Suriya
2.
Suriya has featured six times in the Celebrity 100 list of Forbes India, which takes into account the earnings of Indian celebrities.
3.
Suriya rose to stardom with dual roles of a father and son in Gautham Vasudev Menon's semi-autobiographical Vaaranam Aayiram.
4.
Suriya found success with the science fiction films 7aum Arivu and 24 and then went on to work in critically acclaimed films like Soorarai Pottru and Jai Bhim, the former of which earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor.
5.
Suriya was born as Saravanan on 23 July 1975 in Madras, Tamil Nadu, to actor Sivakumar and his wife Lakshmi.
6.
Suriya has two younger siblings, a brother Karthi and a sister Brindha.
7.
Suriya was initially offered the lead role by Vasanth in his film Aasai, but he rejected the offer citing a lack of interest in an acting career.
8.
Suriya later debuted in Vasanth's own 1997 film Nerrukku Ner, produced by Mani Ratnam when he was 22 years of age.
9.
The stage name "Suriya" was bestowed to him by Ratnam to avoid a clash of names with established actor Saravanan.
10.
The name "Suriya" was frequently used for characters in Ratnam's films.
11.
Suriya then appeared twice with Jyothika in Poovellam Kettuppar and Uyirile Kalanthathu.
12.
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.
13.
Suriya played the role of a businessman suffering from anterograde amnesia.
14.
Suriya's performance was unanimously praised, with a reviewer from Sify citing that "the film is driven by Suriya's riveting performance".
15.
Suriya's performance received positive reviews with a reviewer citing that "Suriya keeps you riveted to the seats with another wholesome effort".
16.
Suriya began work on Menon's biopic Vaaranam Aayiram in November 2007.
17.
Suriya lost weight and prepared a six pack for the film through an eight-month fitness regime without steroids, with the move being a trend-setter for other leading actors from South India.
18.
The film, which featured Simran, Sameera Reddy and Divya Spandana in prominent roles, became commercially successful at the box office upon release and received positive reviews from film critics, with Suriya's performance being lauded.
19.
The film's success saw Suriya emerge as the most profitable leading actor in Tamil films, following a hattrick 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".
20.
Suriya made his Telugu and Hindi debut in the second part of Ram Gopal Varma's political drama Rakta Charitra in 2010.
21.
Suriya played dual roles and starred alongside Shruti Haasan in the film, as a circus artist and as the Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma, who lived in the 6th century.
22.
Suriya himself dubbed for one of his characters in the Telugu dubbed version of the film.
23.
Suriya was acclaimed for his portrayal of Durai Singam and his performance was hailed as "the film's backbone".
24.
Suriya distributed the film through his production company 2D Entertainment, founded in 2013.
25.
Suriya had signed on to feature in Gautham Vasudev Menon's film Dhruva Natchathiram and reportedly waited for six months to start filming.
26.
Suriya co-sang "Ek Do Theen Char" with Andrea Jeremiah for the film.
27.
On 15 May 2015, Suriya released 36 Vayadhinile starring his wife Jyothika, the first production from his company 2D Entertainment.
28.
Suriya appears in an extended cameo role in the film as Tamizh Nadan.
29.
Suriya sang "Maara Theme" and its Telugu version "Maha Theme" for the film, which was released directly on Amazon Prime Video on 12 November 2020.
30.
Suriya acted in the 9th episode titled Guitar Kambi Mele Nindru, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon.
31.
Suriya then played Justice K Chandru in T J Gnanavel's legal drama Jai Bhim.
32.
Suriya appeared as himself in R Madhavan's Rocketry: The Nambi Effect.
33.
Suriya was among 397 eminent film personalities invited to join the Academy for the 95th Academy Awards.
34.
In 2007, Suriya was the brand ambassador of Tanker Foundation and acted in a short film on AIDS awareness.
35.
Suriya has 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.
36.
In 2019, Suriya criticised the union government's Draft National Education Policy, claiming that several of its features would affect students from rural areas.
37.
Suriya said the policy sought to impose entrance and qualifying examination on students and the three language formula in Tamil Nadu.
38.
Suriya 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".
39.
Suriya referred to NEET as "manuneethi" and compared it to a tale in the Mahabharata in which Drona demanded Ekalavya's thumb as payment for training and said "the skills and abilities of our children should not be determined by one test".
40.
Suriya asked people to raise their voice against the NEET which "prevents medical courses to students from normal families".
41.
In 2006, Suriya began Agaram Foundation, working to help children who drop out of school early in Tamil Nadu.
42.
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.
43.
In 2004, Suriya was Pepsi's brand ambassador in Tamil Nadu along with R Madhavan.
44.
Suriya was chosen to represent TVS Motors, Sunfeast Biscuits and Aircel in 2006.
45.
Suriya had endorsed Saravana Stores, Bharathi Cements and Emami Navaratna products in 2010.
46.
In 2015, Suriya was named as the brand ambassador for Quikr and Intex Moblies.