Suriya at 49: Finally at the cusp of greatness, once again?

The road to 49 wasn’t one without its fair share of obstacles, but Suriya has braved it with his head held high. Looking back at the 27 years of his career that began with Nerrukku Ner (1997), there have been a lot of peaks and troughs in his onscreen graph. However, the last decade of Suriya’s career is a rather interesting case study of how Tamil cinema adapted to the digital age.

In many ways, Anjaan (2014) was the patient zero of social media trolling. Of course, the Lingusamy directorial had enough drawbacks to not become the blockbuster it had the potential to be, but undoubtedly, Anjaan was the first time social media responses took major prominence in how the movie was perceived in the opening weekend. Over the years, there have been voices that Anjaan was judged too harshly and it wasn’t THAT bad. However, what happened, happened, and it also started the downward slide in his career that was at a considerable high after the super success of Singam 2. In the next ten years, Suriya had more misses than hits, and with newer players hitting the scene, and the old guard standing taller and taller, it was almost like the peaks of his career were only visible in the rearview mirror.

Then… the global pandemic happened. Just like many other industries, cinema too was struggling to find its feet, and remain afloat waiting for the tides to get better. Theatres were indefinitely shut down, and Indian cinema was in a conundrum not knowing what step to take next. Cometh the hour, cometh the hero, and Suriya took the first bullet to create an alternate source of income for many films lying in release hell, and partnered with Amazon Prime Video to release his production venture on OTT. Ponmagal Vandhaal, starring Jyotika, became the first Tamil film to directly release on OTT. This move by Suriya and Jyotika (actor and Suriya’s wife) was not just groundbreaking, but also extremely disruptive because the theatrical association in Tamil Nadu went up in arms against the actors. Suriya faced his biggest adversity yet when there were calls from theatre associations about boycotting his films and his production ventures. However, Suriya remained steadfast in his beliefs, and went ahead to release five of his production ventures on OTT. And this included two films called Soorarai Pottru and Jai Bhim that heralded the Suriya renaissance.

Suriya in Soorarai Pottru and Jai Bhim

Despite both being direct-to-OTT releases, it created the right noises all over the world. Soorarai Pottru, inspired by the events from the life of Capt GR Gopinath, founder of India’s first low-cost airline, gave Suriya his first National Award for Best Actor. Directed by Sudha Kongara, Soorarai Pottru became a social media favourite. There were social media campaigns urging the makers to release the film in theatres after they reopened with full vigour. It continues to top listicles that list films that deserved to be seen on the big screen. With TJ Gnanavel’s Jai Bhim, Suriya once again established himself as a socially aware actor. Playing the character of human rights lawyer Chandru (inspired by real-life advocate and former judge of the same name), he championed a film that spoke about the atrocities committed against the marginalised communities. The film won accolades, and it even initiated an actual political change that benefitted scores of people from the Irula tribe. Just like Soorarai Pottru, Jai Bhim too became the darling of social media, and netizens defended the film whenever it faced troubles, backlash, or criticism. Of course, it also helped that Suriya’s real-life image came in handy for the social media audience to label him as the man who walks the talk.

Also Read: Soorarai Pottru – The syntax of Tamil cinema isn’t something that Bollywood should be trying to emulate

Soon enough, Lokesh Kanagaraj provided a much-welcomed changeover for Suriya, who mesmerised the audiences with his turn as Rolex in the Kamal Haasan-starrer Vikram. As Rolex, he took it upon himself to reinvigorate his career, and create a persona that was far from his carefully constructed onscreen image as a conscientious gentleman that reflected his real-life persona. Moving away from it, Suriya threw a bloodied butcher knife to a wooden table to announce his return to the big leagues, and social media lapped it up as the clarion call of his re-entry. It also provided social media regulars with the clarity to clearly differentiate between the two Suriyas.

Suriya as Rolex in Vikram

As a star who was well on his way to pan-Indian glory even before the term became popular and overused, Suriya is finally turning back the clock to reclaim his spot in the echelons of pan-Indian stardom. If Ram Gopal Varma’s Rakta Charitra duology gave him his first direct brush with a new and wider audience, the blockbuster success of the Hindi remakes of his films like Ghajini and Singam made him a familiar name. Now, with Kanguva, Suriya hopes to return to the familiar grounds of superstardom.

As he celebrates his 49th birthday with back-to-back updates about Kanguva and Karthik Subbaraj’s Suriya 44, it is clear Suriya is on a mission. And this time, he is supported by the same social media that, in a way, facilitated a slump that he now seems to have grown out of. Netizens seem to be throwing their weight behind Kanguva. They seem to want to exorcise their own pasts. They want to give back to the detractors, and prove to the world that Suriya deserves the tag of ‘Nadippin Nayagan’ – The hero of acting. Simply put, they want Suriya to win.

From the debacle of Anjaan to the much-hyped spectacle of Kanguva, this is possibly his greatest hero’s arc, and if the stars align, we are in for quite the exhilarating ride in this Suriya renaissance.

ICYMI: Soorarai Pottru, Jai Bhim, Vikram: Suriya is the new face of Tamil cinema’s bravery