On Friday, July 22, the 68th National Film Awards winners were revealed. Saravanan Sivakumar, better known as Suriya won Best Actor for ‘Soorarai Potru.’

Saravanan Sivakumar, an Indian actor, producer, television host, and philanthropist who was born on July 23, 1975.

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Suriya spent eight months working in a factory that exports clothing prior to beginning his career in movies. When he was 22 years old, he made his acting debut in Vasanth’s 1997 film Nerrukku Ner, which was also produced by Mani Ratnam. Ratnam gave him the stage name Suriya in order to prevent a name conflict with veteran actor Saravanan. Characters in Ratnam’s movies frequently went by the name Suriya.

He is one of the highest paid actors in Tamil cinema, where he primarily appears, though he has also appeared in a few Hindi films.

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Among the many honours he received were four Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Edison Awards, a Cinema Express Award, a CineMAA Award, and a Vijay Award. Suriya has appeared on the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list six times, which is based on the earnings of Indian celebrities.

Following his screen debut in Nerukku Ner (1997), Suriya received his breakthrough role in Nandha (2001), and with the thriller Kaakha Kaakha, he achieved his first significant commercial success (2003).

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He won awards for his portrayals of a conman in Pithamagan (2003) and a hunchback in Perazhagan (2004). In the 2005 hit Ghajini, he played a character with anterograde amnesia.

In the semi-autobiographical film Vaaranam Aayiram by Gautham Vasudev Menon, in which he played both a father and a son, he achieved stardom (2008).

His roles as a smuggler in Ayan (2009) and an aggressive cop in the Singam trilogy cemented his reputation as an action star.