Film career

Early career (1997–2002)
Suriya debuted in the 1997 film Nerrukku Ner directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam.[6] In 2001, he starred in Siddique's comedy film Friends.
His major break came in the form of Nandha, which was directed by Bala. Playing the role of an ex-convict who is very attached to his mother, he received a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor.[7] His next venture was Vikraman's Unnai Ninaithu, which was followed by Mounam Pesiyadhe directed by Ameer Sultan.
Breakthrough (2003–07)
In 2003, he starred in the Gautham Menon-directed Kaakha Kaakha, a film about the life of a police officer. He then starred in his second Bala directorial, Pithamagan, along with Vikram, portraying a happy-go-lucky village crook with a comic touch, for which he received a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. Since he was shooting for these two films in 2003, he had to turn down a lead role in Autograph, which eventually was played by its director Cheran himself.[8]
In 2004 he received a Filmfare Award for Best Actor for playing two roles in Perazhagan: an aggressive boxer and a handicapped phone booth keeper became successfull venture in box-office.Later that year, he starred in Mani Ratnam's political drama Aayutha Ezhuthu, which was based on George Reddy, a student leader in Hyderabad during the late 60s and early 70s.
In 2005, he appeared in Ghajini and then in Aaru. He played a patient suffering from short-term memory loss in the former. Due to his commitment to Ghajini, he was said to have missed a role in the Bollywood film Rang De Basanti.[9] In 2006 he appeared opposite Jyothika and actress Bhoomika in N. Krishna's film Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. In 2007, his only release was Vel, which released for Diwali.[10]
[edit]Vaaranam Aayiram and onwards (2008–present)
His next release is collaborate with Gautham Menon after the success of Kaakha Kaakha, Suriya began work on Menon's biopic Vaaranam Aayiram in November 2006.[11] Playing dual roles for the third time in his career, Suriya appeared as father and son, with both characters also demanding scenes shot throughout their lives ranging from scenes as a 16 year old to scenes as a 65 year old. During the production of the film, Suriya described the project as "unique" and "straight from the heart", describing the physical hardships he endured during the making.[12] He lost weight and prepared a six pack for the film through an eight month fitness regime, with the move being a trendsetter for other leading actors from South India.[13][14] The film which also featured Simran, Sameera Reddy and Divya Spandana in prominent roles, became commercially successful at the box office upon release as well as receiving positive reviews from film critics, with Suriya's performance being lauded. A critic from Rediff labelled the film as his "magnum opus" citing that he is "perfect" and that the film for him is a "justified trimuph".[15] Similarly critics cited Suriya's performance as "outstanding" and claiming that the film "works because of his performance", whilst other reviewers claimed the film was an "out and out Suriya show".[16][17] His portrayals also fetched him several notable awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actor, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor by the jury and also the Vijay Award for Best Actor for 2008.[18] The film also went on to receive a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil for 2008.[19]
In 2009, Suriya first release was K. V. Anand's action-thriller Ayan, which went on to become the highest grossing Tamil film of the year. With Suriya portraying the role of a smuggler, the film also featured Prabhu as his guardian and Tamannaah Bhatia as the lead actress. The film was shot extensively across Tanzania, Namibia, Malaysia and India and featured parkour stunts by Suriya, without the use of a stunt double.[20] Upon release, the film won positive reviews citing that the film was a "must watch" and Suriya's performance was yet again acclaimed and he found himself nominated for leading awards and won the Vijay Award for Entertainer of the Year.[21] The film's success saw Suriya emerge as the most profitable leading actor in Tamil films, following a hat trick 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".[22]
His next release was Aadhavan directed by K. S. Ravikumar which was a moderate success. In 2010, he had his 25th release with Singam, directed by Hari, in which he played the role of a police officer. The film went on to become the second highest grossing film of the year.[23] Its Telugu dubbed version, Yamudu, was also a success in Andhra Pradesh.[24]
He made his Bollywood debut in Ram Gopal Varma's two-part political drama Rakta Charitra in 2010. He then appeared in cameo roles as himself in the films Manmadhan Ambu (2010) and Avan Ivan (2011). His next release would be A. R. Murugadoss's 7aam Arivu, for which he has finished shooting, following which he would collaborate with K. V. Anand again for a film titled Maatraan.