Suriya filmography

Suriya is an Indian actor, producer and distributor who works primarily in Tamil cinema.[1][2] He made a commercially successful cinematic debut in Vasanth's Nerrukku Ner (1997).[3][4] After few critical and commercial failures, Suriya collaborated with Vasanth again in Poovellam Kettuppar (1999), his first film with his future wife Jyothika.[3][5]

Suriya filmography

Suriya in 2011
Film	42
Television series	1
Television show	1
Music videos	2
Others	2

In 2001, Suriya starred in Bala's Nandha as an ex-convict trying to find his place in society.[6] The film was critically acclaimed and became a turning point in his career.[7][8] 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.[3][9] 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.[10] 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.[6][11] He was also acclaimed for his performance as a student leader in Mani Ratnam's Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004).[6]

In 2005, Suriya starred in three films: Maayavi, Ghajini and Aaru. His performance in Ghajini as a businessman with anterograde amnesia was widely praised,[8][12] and was commercially successful.[13] Maayavi and Aaru were moderately successful.[14][15] Suriya then appeared in Vaaranam Aayiram (2008).[16] His dual role as father and son earned him another Filmfare Best Actor award.[17] 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).[18][19][lower-alpha 1] Suriya made his Hindi and Telugu cinema debuts in Ram Gopal Varma's gangster film Rakta Charitra 2 (2010).[3][20]

Suriya then played the Buddhist monk and creator of Shaolin Kung Fu, Bodhidharma, and his fictional descendant Aravind, in 7aum Arivu (2011).[21][22] His only 2012 release was Maattrraan, in which he played conjoined twins.[23] In 2015, Suriya released 36 Vayadhinile, the first film from his 2D Entertainment production company.[24] He played three roles for the first time in Vikram Kumar's successful science fiction film 24 (2016).[25] His performance won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.[26][27] Following Thaana Serndha Koottam (2018) and Kaappaan (2019), he worked in the acclaimed direct-to-streaming films Soorarai Pottru (2020) and Jai Bhim (2021).[28] For Soorarai Pottru, Suriya won the National Film Award for Best Actor.[29]