Suriya

The name Suriya came from Mani Ratnam, who produced Vasanth's Nerrukku Ner (1997), the film in which a 22-year-old Saravanan Sivakumar made his debut. He was born on 23 July 1975 in Madras, now Chennai, the eldest child of actor Sivakumar; his younger brother Karthi is also an actor. Before films he took a B.Com at Loyola College and spent eight months working at a garment exports factory. Tamil cinema has been his base as an actor and producer. Nandhaa (2001) was his breakthrough and Kaakha Kaakha (2003) his first major commercial success, with award-winning turns in Pithamagan and Perazhagan after it. He played a man with anterograde amnesia in Ghajini (2005) and both father and son in Gautham Vasudev Menon's Vaaranam Aayiram (2008). Ayan and the Singam films built an action image. Later came the science-fiction films 7 Aum Arivu and 24, Soorarai Pottru (2020), which won him the National Film Award for Best Actor, and Jai Bhim (2021). His honours count two National Film Awards, seven Filmfare Awards South and ten Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. He set up the Agaram Foundation in 2006 and the production house 2D Entertainment in 2013. Coming up is Jithu Madhavan's Scene (2026), which he produces and in which he plays DSP Inbaraj. Naslen makes his Tamil debut in it as a serial killer, and the film opens in Gulf theatres on 6 November.