Early life
Surya was born to actor Sivakumar 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 Sivakumar and he has a younger sister named Brindha Sivakumar.
He attended PSBB School [3] and St. Bede's School in Chennai[4] and graduated from Loyola College with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
Film Career
Surya debuted in the 1997 film Nerukku Ner directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam. Later he starred in 2001 remake Friends directed by Siddique and Nandha by Bala for which he received a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. Surya's next venture was Vikraman's Unnai Ninaithu which was followed by Mounam Pesiyadhe.
In 2003 he did Kaaka Kaaka; a movie about the life of a police officer[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] In 2004 he received a Filmfare Award for Best Actor for playing two roles in Perazhagan;[citation needed] 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 late 60s and early 70s. This film was directed by Mani Ratnam. In 2005, he appeared in Aaru and then in Ghajini. In this movie he played a patient suffering from short term memory loss.
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. In 2007, Surya's solitary release was Vel.
In 2008, he appeared in Vaaranam Aayiram, which released on 14 November 2008. He won a Filmfare Award for Best Actor, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor, a Vijay Award for Best Actor which was presented to him by Kamal Hassan who acknowledged Surya's versatility as an actor, and a Filmfans Award for Best Actor and the film received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil for 2008.[citation needed] He happened to gain lots of female fans after his appearence in this film. Surya's next film Ayan in 2009 was directed by K. V. Anand and released on 3 April 2009. Following Ayan, Surya starred in Aadhavan directed by K. S. Ravikumar which was released worldwide on 17 October 2009. His 25th film, Singam, directed by Harihas released and running successfuly. He will make his Bollywood debut in Rakta Charitra, which is being directed by Ram Gopal Varma and is scheduled for a 2010 release.
Philanthropy
In 2008, Surya began Agaram Foundation[2] 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.
Personal life
He married actress Jyothika Sadanah on 11 September 2006.[5] On August 10 2007, the couple's daughter Diya was born.[6] He resides in Chennai with his family. On the 7 June 2010, Jyothika gave birth to their second child, Dhina
Awards
Filmfare Awards South
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor - Pithamagan (2003)
Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Perazhagan (2004)
Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Vaaranam Aayiram (2008)
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor - Nandha (2002)
Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Actor - Ghajini (2005)
Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Actor - Vaaranam Aayiram (2008)
Vijay Awards
Vijay Award for Icon of the Year (2007)[7]
Vijay Award for Best Actor - Vaaranam Aayiram (2008)
Vijay Award for Entertainer of the Year (2009) for Ayan/Aadhavan
Vijay Award for Icon of the Year (2009) - special award for Social Services rendered through the charity Agaram Foundation[8]
Other awards and recognition
Kalaimamani Award (2004)
Dinakaran Best New Face Actor in Nerukku Ner (1997)[9]
ITFA Best Actor Award in Kaakha Kaakha (2003)
Filmfans Award for Best Actor 2008 for Vaaranam Aayiram [10]
South Scope Award for Style Icon of the Year 2009 [11]
Amrita Mathrubhumi Award for Best Actor in Tamil - Ayan / Aadhavan (2009) [12]
Nominations
Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Nandha (2001)[citation needed]
Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Kaakha Kaakha (2003)
Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Ghajini (2005)[citation needed]
Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Ayan (2009)[13]
Vijay Award for Favourite Hero - Vaaranam Aayiram (2008)
Vijay Award for Best Actor - Ayan (2009)
Vijay Award for Favourite Hero - Aadhavan (2009)
