Suriya is the 51-year-old Tamil star enjoying the biggest year of his career. His latest film, Scene, crossed ₹145 crore worldwide in its first three days, according to its makers — his third consecutive hit of 2026, after Karuppu and Vishwanath & Sons, taking his combined box-office total for the year past ₹600 crore.
From his debut in 1997 to a National Film Award for Soorarai Pottru and a remarkable 2026 comeback, Suriya has built a career on choosing roles other stars would avoid. This biography covers his age, height, career, wife Jyothika, children, net worth and the Scene hat-trick.
| Full Name | Saravanan Sivakumar |
| Age | 51 years old (born 23 July 1975) |
| Height | 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) |
| Birthplace | Chennai (then Madras), Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupation | Actor, film producer |
| Known For | Ghajini, Vaaranam Aayiram, Soorarai Pottru, Jai Bhim, Karuppu, Scene |
| Net Worth 2026 | Estimated ₹180–187 crore ($22–25 million) — no official figure (see Net Worth section below) |
Early Life
Suriya was born as Saravanan Sivakumar on 23 July 1975 in Madras, now Chennai, Tamil Nadu, the eldest son of veteran Tamil actor Sivakumar and his wife Lakshmi. His younger brother Karthi is also a leading actor, and his sister Brindha works in films as well. Despite growing up in a film family, Suriya did not plan to act at first: he studied at Loyola College in Chennai and briefly worked in a garment export firm before cinema came calling.
His debut arrived in 1997 with Nerukku Ner, directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam. The early years were uneven, with several forgettable films, but the gangster drama Nandha (2001), directed by Bala, changed everything. His raw, restrained performance as a young man released from prison won critical praise and proved he was far more than a star’s son.
Career
Suriya’s rise through the 2000s was built on variety. Kaakha Kaakha (2003) made him an action star, Ghajini (2005) a mass hero, and Vaaranam Aayiram (2008) — in which he played father and son across two generations — won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. Ayan (2009) and the Singam series (2010 onwards) kept him at the top of the box office, while the time-travel thriller 24 (2016) showed his appetite for unusual material.
His most acclaimed phase came during the pandemic, when two of his films went straight to streaming. Soorarai Pottru (2020), in which he played an airline entrepreneur inspired by Air Deccan founder G. R. Gopinath, won him the National Film Award for Best Actor, and the film also took the National Award for Best Feature Film, with Suriya as one of its producers. Jai Bhim (2021), a hard-hitting legal drama in which he played a lawyer fighting a custodial-death case, earned him near-universal praise and a large new audience outside Tamil Nadu.
The return to theatres was rockier. Kanguva (2024), a big-budget fantasy epic, underperformed badly, and by the end of 2025 his box-office standing looked uncertain. That is what makes 2026 so remarkable. Karuppu, directed by RJ Balaji and rooted in Tamil folk mythology, ran for weeks on word of mouth and collected about ₹310 crore worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of his career. Vishwanath & Sons, a romantic comedy directed by Venky Atluri and his 46th film, followed with about ₹209 crore worldwide.
Across his career, Suriya has won two National Film Awards, seven Filmfare Awards South and ten Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, and has been featured in Forbes India’s Celebrity 100 list seven times, including in 2026. He is widely regarded as one of the finest actors in Indian cinema, and one of the highest-paid stars in Tamil cinema.
Personal Life
Suriya married actress Jyothika on 11 September 2006, after dating since 1999 and co-starring in seven films together. The couple have two children: daughter Diya, born on 10 August 2007, and son Dev, born on 7 June 2010. Jyothika stepped away from acting at the height of her career after the marriage and returned to films years later; the two now also work together as producers.
Off screen, Suriya is known for his philanthropy. He started the Agaram Foundation in 2006, which supports education for underprivileged children, and in 2013 he and Jyothika founded the production house 2D Entertainment, which has produced films including Soorarai Pottru, Jai Bhim and Scene.
Suriya Net Worth 2026
Suriya’s net worth in 2026 has not been officially disclosed, and no reliable public figure exists. Celebrity bio sites estimate it at about $22–25 million, roughly ₹180–187 crore, but those figures are estimates drawn from publicly reported earnings rather than verified records, so no number is stated here as fact.
What is known is that his income comes from acting fees — he is among the highest-paid actors in Tamil cinema — along with his production house 2D Entertainment and brand endorsements. A year in which three of his films together grossed more than ₹600 crore worldwide, as 2026 has been, is likely to have been his most lucrative yet.
Scene and the 2026 Hat-Trick
Scene, Suriya’s third release of 2026, arrived in theatres on 6 November, just ahead of Diwali, in Tamil and Telugu. Directed by Malayalam filmmaker Jithu Madhavan in his Tamil debut, the action-comedy stars Suriya as a police officer named Inbaraaj, alongside Nazriya Nazim and Naslen, with Lal and Anandaraj in key roles. It is jointly produced by Suriya and Jyothika’s 2D Entertainment and Zhagaram Studios.
On Monday 9 November, the makers announced that the film had grossed over ₹145 crore worldwide in its first three days, sharing a celebratory poster that described it as a blockbuster. Independent trade tracker Sacnilk put the three-day worldwide figure lower, at ₹117.10 crore, and reported that the film continued strongly on its fourth day, collecting ₹21.25 crore in India to take its India net total to ₹84.40 crore and its worldwide gross to ₹149.55 crore.
Either way, the run completed a remarkable hat-trick: Scene is the third Suriya film in a row to cross ₹100 crore worldwide within its first three days, after Karuppu and Vishwanath & Sons, putting him in an exclusive club of Indian stars to have managed the feat three times in a single year. With the three films together, Suriya’s worldwide box-office total for 2026 has crossed ₹600 crore and is heading towards ₹650 crore, according to The Indian Express — a comeback few would have predicted after the disappointments of 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Suriya?
Suriya is 51 years old. He was born on 23 July 1975 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
How tall is Suriya?
Suriya is 5 feet 7 inches tall (170 cm), according to the most widely reported figure.
Who is Suriya’s wife?
Suriya is married to actress Jyothika. They married on 11 September 2006 after dating since 1999, and have two children together.
How many children does Suriya have?
Suriya has two children with Jyothika: daughter Diya, born on 10 August 2007, and son Dev, born on 7 June 2010.
What is Suriya’s net worth in 2026?
His net worth has not been officially disclosed. Celebrity bio sites estimate it at about $22–25 million (roughly ₹180–187 crore), but no figure is verified, so no number is stated as fact in this biography.
Is Suriya’s Scene a hit?
Yes. According to its makers, Scene grossed over ₹145 crore worldwide in its first three days after releasing on 6 November 2026, making it Suriya’s third consecutive hit of the year after Karuppu and Vishwanath & Sons. Independent tracker Sacnilk put the three-day worldwide figure lower, at ₹117.10 crore, but the film’s run still took his 2026 total past ₹600 crore.
