Awards

• Dinakaran Best New Face Actor in Nerukku Ner (1997)
• Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor in Nandha (2002)
• ITFA Best Actor Award in Kaakha Kaakha (2003)
• Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor in Pithamagan (2003)
• Kalaimamani Award (2004)
• Filmfare Award for Best Actor in Perazhagan (2004)
• Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Actor in Ghajini (2006)
• Reliance Mobile Vijay Award for Icon of the Year (2008)
• South Scope Style Award - Youth Style Icon (Male) (2008)
• Filmfare Award for Best Actor in Vaaranam Aayiram (2009)
• Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Actor in Vaaranam Aayiram (2009)
• Reliance Mobile Vijay Award for Best Actor of the Year (2009)
• Filmfans Award for Best Actor in Vaaranam Aayiram (2009)
• Mathrubhumi Amritha filmfare Award-2009(Kerala) for Best Actor in Ayan and Aadhavan

Personal life

• He married Jyothika Saravanan on 11 September 2006. On 10 August 2007, the couple's daughter Diya was born. He resides in Chennai with his family. Surya has stated that he is against smoking and drinking. They are now expecting their second child.

Philanthropy

• In 2008, Surya began Agaram Foundation working to help children who drop out of school early in Tamil Nadu. With the Ministry of Education in Tamil Nadu, he created a short commercial video outlining child poverty, labour and lack of education, titled Herova? Zerova?. The film was written and produced by Surya and also starred Joseph Vijay, R. Madhavan and Jyothika Saravanan.

Career

Initial career (1997 – 2002)

• Surya debuted in the 1997 film Nerrukku Ner directed by Vasanth. This film produced by Mani Ratnam was a hit. Later he starred in movies which did not do well. In 2001 he starred in a Malayalam remake Friends directed by Siddique and Nandha by Bala for which he received a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. Nandha was one of Surya's most important films as it established him as an actor and changed his views on cinema as a career. Surya's next venture was Vikraman's Unnai Ninaithu which was followed by Mounam Pesiyadhe. Both films did well and Surya's performance was appreciated

Success (2003 – 2007)

• In 2003 he did Kaaka Kaaka; a movie about the life of a police officer, it grossed almost Rs. 150 million at the box office. It was Surya's biggest hit at that time and made him a successful solo actor. This movie also stirred some gossip about Surya and Jyothika Saravanan's love affair. Then he did Pithamagan by Bala along with Vikram. In this movie Surya played a happy-go-lucky village crook with a comic touch, for which he received a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. In 2004 he received a Filmfare Award for Best Actor for playing two roles in Perazhagan; one was as a boxer and the other as a handicapped but confident phone booth keeper. He then did Aayutha Ezhuthu which was based on George Reddy, a student leader in Hyderabad during the 80's. This film was directed by Mani Ratnam.

• In 2005, he appeared in Aaru and then in Memento-inspired Ghajini. In this movie he played a patient suffering from short term memory loss. This movie was a blockbuster at the box office, causing him to be compared with Vijay and Ajith Kumar. He then set up a production company called Studio Green which distributed the movie in the Chennai district. Surya's 2006 release was N. Krishna's Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. He acted opposite his wife Jyothika Saravanan in the film. This movie did not do well at the box office. In 2007, Surya's solitary release was Vel and it became a super hit at the box office.

Vaaranam Aayiram and beyond

• In 2008, he appeared in Vaaranam Aayiram, another blockbuster with Gautham Menon which released on 14 November 2008. Surya's performance was highly praised and was rated to be his best performance ever. He won a Filmfare Award for Best Actor, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor, a Vijay Award for Best Actor and a Filmfans Award for Best Actor.

• Surya's next film Ayan in 2009 was directed by K. V. Anand and released on 3 April 2009 and was a huge box office blockbuster. Following the success of Ayan, Surya starred in Aadhavan directed by K. S. Ravikumar which was released worldwide on 17 October 2009. Aadhavan went on to become another hit movie of Surya's. Surya received a Mathrubhumi Amritha filmfare Award-2009(Kerala) for Best Actor (Tamil) for his performance in Ayan and Aadhavan which were super hits in Kerala. He is now acting in his 25th film, Singam, directed by Hari. He will make his Bollywood debut in Rakta Charitra, which is being directed by Ram Gopal Varma and is scheduled for a 2010 release.

Early life

• Suriya was born to actor Siva Kumar and his wife Lakshmi on 23 July 1975. He was born in Chennai, but brought up in Coimbatore. He is the eldest of three children, his younger brother is actor Karthik Sivakumarand he has a younger sister named Brindha Sivakumar.

• He attended PSBBSchool and St. Bede's School in Chennai and graduated from Loyola College with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He was working in a garment factory at Tiruppur before entering the film industry.

Filmography

Filmography

1997 - Nerrukku Ner
Winner, Dinakaran Award for Best New Actor
1998 - Kaadhale Nimmadhi, Sandhippoma

1999 - Periyanna, Poovellam Kettuppar

2000 - Uyirile Kalanthathu,

2001 - Friends, Unnai Ninaithu
Nandha - Winner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor
Nominated, Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award

2002 - Shree, Mounam Pesiyadhe

2003 - Kaakha Kaakha - Winner, ITFA Best Actor Award
Nominated, Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
Pithamagan - Winner, Filmfare Best Tamil Supporting Actor Award

2004 - Perazhagan - Winner, Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
Aayutha Ezhuthu

2005 - Maayavi,Aaru,June R
Ghajini - Winner, Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Actor
Nominated, Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
2006 - Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

2007 - Vel

2008 - Vaaranam Aayiram - Winner, Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award
Winner, Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Actor
Winner, Vijay Award for Best Actor
Winner,Filmfans Award for Best Actor
Nominated, Vijay Award for Favourite Hero
Nominated, Vijay Award for Entertainer of the Year


2009 - Ayan - Winner, Mathrubhumi Amritha Filmfare Award-2009 (Kerala)
Aadhavan - Winner, Mathrubhumi Amritha Filmfare Award-2009 (Kerala)

2010 Projects - Singam
Rakta Charitra - Announced
Untitled project with A.R.Murugadoss - Announced (shooting is scheduled to begin in 2010 February)

Surya Sivakumar

• Saravanan "Surya" Sivakumar (Tamil: சரவணன் "சூர்யா" சிவகுமார்) (born 23 July 1975) is an award-winning Tamil film actor and dubbing artist. Son of actor Sivakumar, he starred in several films, such as Nandha, Kaakha Kaakha, Ghajini, Perazhagan, Pithamagan, Vaaranam Aayiram,Ayan and Aadhavan. As of 2009,he has won three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards.

• He became a film distributor after opening Studio Green, which distributed several of his earlier films. He married actress Jyothika Saravanan in 2006, after being engaged for several years. In 2008, he began Agaram Foundation, which funds for preventing early childhood drop-outs.