Did You Know Suriya Worked as a Manager in a Garment Factory? 48 Facts About the Tamil Actor

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SURIYA: South star Suriya’s fame and fan following extend far beyond the borders of the South. He stands tall as one of the highest-paid actors in the industry, and his exceptional performances and decades of experience have earned him a widespread reputation throughout the country. On the occasion of his 48th birthday, let’s delve into 48 fascinating facts about the pan-India star, Suriya.

Happy Birthday Suriya: 48 Fascinating Facts

1. The actor Suriya’s birth name is Saravanan Sivakumar.
2. Suriya is a stage name he used to avoid a clash with another established actor with the same name Saravanan.
3. Apart from being an actor, he is also a producer and television presenter.
4. Suriya is the son of Tamil actor Shivakumar and his wife Lakshmi.
5. His brother Karthi is also a South Indian film actor.
6. His sister, Brindha Sivakumar, is a singer and voice artist working in Tamil films.
7. He attended Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan School and St. Bede’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Chennai.
8. He entered the film industry after finishing his B.COM degree from Loyola College in Chennai.
9. Suriya was initially uninterested in acting and wanted to be a director as a child.
10. He worked as a manager in a garment factory after graduating and before he started acting.
11. Suriya made his debut in the Tamil film industry with Nerukku Ner in 1997.
12. He became established with his role in the 2001 film Nandha, but his first major commercial success was Kaakha Kaakha in 2003.
13. He has played diverse roles, including a conman in Pithamagan and dual role as hunchback and a man suffering from anterograde amnesia, in the 2005 blockbuster Ghajini.
14. His biggest success to date is the Singham Series.
15. The first part of Singham was his 25th film, released in 2010.
16. The second part of Singham released in 2013 was the highest grossing film of all time.
17. Many of his films were remade in Bollywood, such as Ghajini and Singham.
18. Suriya made his Hindi and Telugu film debuts in Ram Gopal Varma’s gangster flick Rakta Charitra 2.
19. He has also been part of the 2011 science fiction film 7aum Arivu.
20. In Vikram Kumar’s breakthrough science fiction film 24, he portrayed three roles for the first time.
21. He was presented the National Film Award for the best actor for Soorarai Pottru.
22. He has won three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards South, a CineMAA Award, and a Vijay Award.
23. He also won the Kalaimamani Awards in 2005 in the category Arts and Literature.
24. He gifted his mother a saree with his first paycheck.
25. Surya married the well-known South Indian actress Jyothika in 2006.
26. Suriya and Jyothika first shared the screen in the 1999 film Poovellam Kettuppar.
27. Suriya is the founder of the Agaram Foundation, which aids in the education of underprivileged children.
28. The foundation collaborated with the Ministry of Education in Tamil Nadu to make Herova Zerova, a short commercial video that highlighted child poverty, labor, and a lack of education. Sivakumar wrote and produced the film, which also starred Vijay, Madhavan, and Jyothika.
29. He did the dubbing for Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai’s film Guru.
30. He named his production company 2D Entertainment after his children’s initials— Dev and Diya.
31. This is jointly managed by Suriya, his brother Karthi, Jyotika and Rajsekhar Pandhan.
32. Suriya’s debut film from his 2D Entertainment production firm, 36 Vayadhinile, was released in 2015.
33. The most recent productions are Oh My Dog and Viruman in 2022.
34. Suriya’s production has also distributed films such as Gargi and Kadugu.
35. Suriya has also performed a song in his films Anjaan and Party.
36. He also sang theme songs for Soorarai Pottru and Aakaasam Nee Haddhu Ra.
37. In 2012, he made his television debut as a host of the Star Vijay game show Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi, the Tamil version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
38. He had endorsed several brands like Pepsi, TVS Motors, Saavana Stores etc.
39. He has endorsed brands alongside big Bollywood names like R Madhavan and Malaika Arora.
40. In 2013, at the Edison Awards, he was presented with the award for the Best Male Endorser in South India.
41. Suriya has also appeared six times in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list, which ranks Indian celebrities based on their earnings.
42. He has appeared in two music videos: Spirit of Chennai in 2016 and Maatrangal Ondre Dhaan in 2017.
43. Suriya’s most recent film, Etharkkum Thunindhavan, was directed by Pandiraj and produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures.
44. He also appeared in R. Madhavan’s Rocketry: The Nambi Effect as himself.
45. He appeared in the Netfilx anthology Navarasa in 2021.
46. Suriya has stated that he will appear in the Hindi version of Soorarai Pottru, starring Akshay Kumar.
47. Suriya was the first South Indian actor to be invited to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2022.
48. He will next be seen in the big-budget film Project K.