In Kollywood, while veteran actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan are in the retirement stage of their careers, current superstar Vijay has quit acting and become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, Ajith Kumar is now concentrating more on his racing career than acting. Consequently, there is a huge vacuum for top-tier star actors in the industry.
Even though actors like Sivakarthikeyan and Dhanush have huge potential, everyone’s eyes are now on Suriya. The Kollywood audience is looking forward to seeing whether he will use this opportunity and rule the Kollywood industry, as he has more legacy compared to other current stars and a huge fan following.
Also, in the prime phase of his career, particularly in the 2008 – 2010 period, he conquered the Kollywood industry with his box office pull and even sidelined Rajinikanth and Vijay by delivering back-to-back solid entertainers at that time. Although he is currently out of form, considering his previous records, many of his fans believe that he will make a remarkable comeback with his upcoming films and is capable of ruling the Kollywood industry, which is in need of a Superstar.
With the recently released Karuppu, Suriya has so far acted as a lead actor in 45 films in Kollywood. In this article, we’ll take a quick look at the verdict of those films and which films have created a massive impact on his career to emerge as a huge star actor in the Kollywood industry despite heavy competition.
1) Nerrukku Ner (1997)
Suriya was supposed to debut as an actor with the film Aasai in 1995. Aasai’s film director, Vasanth, has stated in many interviews that before casting Ajith Kumar in Aasai, he initially tried casting Suriya to play the lead. However, Suriya was not interested at that time. But later, when the same Vasanth approached him with the Nerrukku Ner idea, he agreed to act in the film, and that’s how Suriya entered the Kollywood industry. Nerrukku Ner is a dual hero film, and Suriya played the second lead, whereas the other lead role was played by Vijay. This film was a successful Venture at the box office and gave Suriya a solid start.
Verdict: Hit
2) Kaadhale Nimmadhi (1998)
Following Nerrukku Ner, Suriya again acted as the second hero in the film Kaadhale Nimmadhi directed by Indhran. The main lead was played by the late veteran actor Murali. Even though the acting performance of Suriya in this film earned him lots of appreciation, the film failed to satisfy the expectations of the audience and ended up as a terrible failure at the box office.
Verdict: Flop
3) Sandhippoma (1998)
Sandhippoma was Suriya’s first film as a lead actor. This romantic drama film was directed by T Indrakumar. This film failed to impress the audiences and again ended up as another disappointing film for Suriya. Although many star actors like Radhika, Prakash Raj and Sarath Babu acted in a crucial role in this film, due to the terrible word of mouth, the film went unnoticed and failed to create an impact at the box office.
Verdict: Flop
4) Perianna (1999)
After the terrible failure of Sandhippoma, Suriya again went back to his successful pattern of acting alongside a senior actor in Perianna. Even though the lead role in this film was played by Suriya, later veteran actor Vijayakanth acted in a crucial role in this film and this film was directed by Vijay’s father, S A Chandrasekharan. However, the film didn’t give the expected result for Suriya and ended up as another terrible failure at the box office.
Verdict: Flop
5) Poovellam Kettuppar (1999)
Due to the back-to-back terrible disasters, Suriya once again reunited with the director Vasanth, who gave him a massive budget for Poovellam Kettuppar. The songs composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja for this film were viral hits at that time and they created a massive hype for the film. Consequently, the film enjoyed a solid opening and even received positive responses from the critics. However, the film failed to satisfy the expectations of the audience and completed its theatrical run with an average status. Additionally, this film marked the first collaboration for Suriya with his wife Jyothika.
Verdict: Average
6) Uyirile Kalanthathu (2000)
Uyirile Kalanthathu is yet another romantic drama film from Suriya directed by K R Jaya. In the earliest phase of his career, until Uyirile Kalanthathu, Suriya acted only in romantic drama films, and surprisingly, all these films ended up as either failures or average ones at the box office. Uyirile Kalanthathu also failed to satisfy the expectations of the audience, and Suriya faced severe backlash for his back-to-back failures.
Verdict: Flop
7) Friends (2001)
Following a streak of failure films, Suriya finally tased the success with Friends directed by Siddique. Suriya’s acting performance in this film was highly appreciated by the critics and especially his humour portions with Vijay in this film had won the hearts of the audience at that time. Consequently, the film ended up as a huge success and gave some relief to Suriya.
Verdict: Hit
8) Nandhaa (2001)
Nandhaa directed by Bala, gave Suriya a new identity and till now it has a cult fan following among the audiences. This film was Suriya’s first action drama film in his career and his intense acting performances gained him a huge appreciation from both the critics and audiences. Although the film was not a huge blockbuster success, it made a huge impact on Suriya’s acting career and established him as a solid performer.
Verdict: Hit
9) Unnai Ninaithu (2002)
Since Suriya delivered two back to back hits with Friends and Nandhaa, Unnai Ninaithu directed by Vikraman had solid expectations among the audiences before its release. Accordingly, the film had a decent opening at the box office, but the film received mixed responses from the audience. While some people shared positive responses stating that it was a solid emotional film, others have shared negative reviews claiming that the film lags in many places and is very slow. However, even with the mixed reviews, the film emerged as a successful Venture at the box office and Suriya flexed his box office pull.
Average: Hit
10) Sri (2002)
After the success of Nandhaa, Suriya once again returned with an intense action film Sri directed by the debutant Pushpavasagan. Many reviewers criticized that Sri doesn’t look fresh and seems like an extension of Nandhaa. Sri failed to satisfy the expectations of the audience and ended up as a terrible failure at the box office. Also, this film put an end to the success streak of Suriya at that phase.
Verdict: Flop
11) Mounam Pesiyadhe
With the intention to make a comeback following the failure of Sri, Suriya made a risky move and collaborated with the debutant Ameer for an Romantic drama film Mounam Pesiyadhe. This risky move gave Suriya the expected result, as Mounam Pesiyadhe received super positive responses from the audience and became a commercial success. Mounam Pesiyadhe, till now has a cult fan following and many Suriya fans still rate it as one of the best films in Suriya’s career. Additionally, Mounam Pesiyadhe was Trisha’s debut film as a lead actress in the Kollywood industry.
Verdict: Hit
12) Kaakha Kaakha (2003)
Kaakha Kaakha directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon was the game-changer film in Suriya’s acting career. Although some of his previous films emerged as hits, Kaakha Kaakha was the first massive blockbuster film in his acting career. Also, Suriya won multiple accolades for his acting performance in this film. Kaakha Kaakha ran more than 100 days in theatres at that time and Suriya’s characterization as ACP Anbuselvan IPS still has a cult fan following.
Verdict: Blockbuster
13) Pithamagan (2003)
Pithamagan is another iconic film in Suriya’s acting career. Following the blockbuster success of Kaakha Kaakha, Suriya reunited with the director Bala, once again after the massive success of Nandhaa. Although Pithamagan wasn’t performed upto it’s expectations and collected less than Kaakha Kaakha, Suriya once again proved that he is one of the finest actors in South India with this film. Also, actor Vikram had won the National Award for playing the lead role in this film.
Verdict: Hit
14) Perazhagan (2004)
Following the success of Pithamagan, Suriya chose to act in another challenging film Perazhagan directed by Sasi Shanker. Perazhagan is the remake of the Blockbuster Malayalam film Kunjikoonan and the same director, who directed the original version, also remade this project in Tamil with Suriya. Perazhagan received overwhelming positive responses from the critics and Suriya with his dual role acting performance had won the hearts of the Kollywood audience with this film.
Verdict: Hit
15) Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004)
Aayutha Ezhuthu directed by Mani Ratnam is yet another experimental attempt from Suriya. This film received widespread appreciation from the critics and Suriya’s daring performance as a student leader was highly appreciated by the Kollywood audiences. Despite the positive responses, the film failed to connect with the general audiences and Aayutha Ezhuthu ended up as an average film at the box office.
Verdict: Average
16) Maayavi (2005)
Maayavi directed by Singampuli is an out-and-out black comedy entertainer. Suriya’s characterization in this film was almost similar to the character he played in Pithamagan. Although some of the comedy portions in the film worked well for the audience, as a whole, the film failed to satisfy the expectations of the audience. Consequently, the film failed at the box office and ended up as a huge loss venture for the production house.
Verdict: Flop
17) Ghajini (2005)
After the back to back setbacks from Aayutha Ezhuthu and Maayavi, Suriya collaborated with the critically acclaimed commercial director A R Murugadoss for Ghajini. Despite the controversies that it’s a copy of the Hollywood film Memento, Ghajini received super positive responses from both the audiences and critics, especially Suriya’s acting performance in this film is still considered as his career best. With the super positive responses, Ghajini did a rampage at the box office collections and had collected around 50 crores worldwide at that time. Following the huge blockbuster success in Tamil, A R Murugadoss remade the film in Hindi with Aamir Khan.
Verdict: Blockbuster
18) Aaru (2005)
Aaru directed by Hari was Suriya’s first proper mass masala commercial entertainer film. Suriya’s acting performance in this film was completely different from his previous films, but the film has received mixed responses from the audiences and critics. Despite the mixed reviews, because of the impact created by Ghajini, Aaru performed well at the box office and proved to be a successful venture for the makers.
Verdict: Hit
19) June R (2006)
June R is a female centric film starring Jyothika as the lead and directed by Revathy S Varmha. Suriya appeared in an extended cameo in this film in a credited role. Since the women centric films didn’t have a great market at the time and also because of the disappointing reviews, this film went unnoticed and ended up as a terrible disaster at the box office.
Verdict: Flop
20) Sillunu Oru Kaadhal (2006)
Sillunu Oru Kaadhal was Suriya’s romantic film after a very long time. This film was directed by Krishna and the musical album of this film was composed by AR Rahman. Despite the commercial success of this film, all the songs in this film were still relevant and have a cult fan following. Although Suriya’s previous Romantic drama films had given him the expected result, Sillunu Oru Kaadhal performed well at the box office and ended up as a profitable venture.
Verdict: Hit
21) Vel (2007)
Suriya after Perazhagan acted in a dual role in this film Vel directed by Hari and this film was released as a Diwali special in 2007. Since Suriya was in a prime phase form of his career at that time, Vel enjoyed massive expectations among the audiences, but unexpectedly Vel failed to satisfy those expectations and ended up as an average film for the actor. However, despite the mixed reviews, Vel became a commercial success and Suriya once again flexed his stardom with this film.
Verdict: Super Hit
22) Vaaranam Aayiram (2008)
Following the commercial success of Vel, Suriya reunited with Gautham Vasudev Menon for Vaaranam Aayiram. Since this duo has already delivered a blockbuster film Kaakha Kaakha, Vaaranam Aayiram, enjoyed a massive pre-release buzz and fans had massive expectations. Surprisingly, Vaaranam Aayiram ended up as a cult film and served more than the expectations. Suriya’s body transformations in this film has highliy appreciated by many people and particularly his six-pack look in the film motivated many youngsters to hit the gym. With the super positive responses, Vaaranam Aayiram had gone for a rampage at the box office and ended up as one of the peak films in Suriya’s career.
Verdict: Blockbuster
23) Ayan (2009)
Suriya’s Ayan directed by KV Anand was one of the best commercial films that the Kollywood industry has ever witnessed. Ayan set an example of how a perfect commercial entertainer film has to be made. Ever since the re-release trend was started in the Kollywood industry, the only film that Suriya fans are always demanding is Ayan and that’s clear evidence of the impact this film made. Ayan has collected more than 80 crores at the box office and has become the highest grossing Tamil film of the year 2009. Suriya with the back to back blockbuster success of Vaaranam Aayiram and Ayan had even sidelined Rajinikanth and Vijay in this period and emerged as top tier actor of the Kollywood industry.
Verdict: Blockbuster
24) Aadhavan (2010)
Suriya with the intention of maintaining the peak momentum he gained through the success of Vaaranam Aayiram and Ayan, planned to do mass commercial films and collaborated with the legendary commercial director of Kollywood K S Ravikumar for this film Aadhavan and it gave him the expected result. Aadhavan became a huge commercial success and it also helped Suriya to attract a huge family audience.
Verdict: Super Hit
25) Singam (2010)
Singam directed by Hari is Suriya’s milestone 25th film. Especially since it’s his milestone film, he wanted it to be a proper commercial entertainer and collaborated with Hari for the third time, after two commercial hit films Aaru and Vel. This film had massive expectations among the audiences and consequently, the film enjoyed a solid opening. Singam received super positive responses from both the audiences and critics, and went on a rampage at the box office. With the solid screenplay of Hari and Suriya’s powerful acting performance, Singam till now holds a cult fan following and is one of the top films of Kollywood with a high repeat value.
Verdict: Blockbuster
26) Rakta Charitra 2 (2010)
Suriya’s blockbuster success streak came to an end with this film Rakta Charitra 2 directed by Ram Gopal Varma. Following the blockbuster success of Singam, Suriya made a risky move and agreed to act as a lead in the sequel to the blockbuster Telugu movie Rakta Charitra. Since Suriya was onboarded to the film, the sequel Rakta Charitra 2 was made as a bilingual film. However, this intense political action thriller failed to impress the audience and ended up as a terrible disaster at the box office. Even Suriya’s star power isn’t able to save the film from its failure.
Verdict: Flop
27) 7 Aum Arivu (2011)
Following the terrible failure of Rakta Charitra 2, Suriya with the intention to make a solid comeback, reunited with AR Murugadoss for 7 Aum Arivu. Since the duo has already delivered a mega blockbuster film Ghajini, 7 Aum Arivu had massive expectations among the audiences. It received super positive responses from the critics, but since it’s an experimental attempt, it doesn’t work well for the general audience. Despite the mixed responses, Suriya once again flexed his stardom, as the film has collected more than 100 crores and emerged as a commercial winner.
Verdict: Super Hit
28) Maattrraan (2012)
Maattrraan was yet another experimental film for Suriya. This film was directed by KV Anand, who previously delivered an Industry hit with Suriya in Ayan. Since the most successful combo was collaborated for this film, many people believed that the combo would deliver another impressive commercial entertainer. But, unfortunately, despite the only positive aspect of Suriya’s high-octane dual role, the film offered nothing new and with a slow-paced screenplay, Maattrraan ended up as an average outing from the duo.
Verdict: Average
29) Singam II (2013)
After the two back to back experimental attempts, Suriya returned to the mass commercial zone with the sequel to his most enjoyed commercial film Singam, which is Singam II under the direction of Hari. Because Singam was a commercial success, it paved the way for a massive pre release buzz for its sequel, Singam II. Consequently, the film started its theatrical run with a massive opening. Also, the film served more than the expectations and emerged as a huge commercial winner by collecting more than 100 crores at the box office. Additionally, as of now, this film is considered the last theatrical super hit film for the actor.
Verdict: Super Hit
30) Anjaan (2014)
Anjaan directed by N Lingusamy, was one of the most anticipated films in Suriya’s career. The stylish look of Suriya was a huge sensation at that time and the peak trailer of this film boosted massive expectations for the film. Additionally, N Lingusamy at one of the award function over hyped this film as it is going to be the career best film for Suriya. But, shockingly the film offered nothing new and the story of Anjaan was almost similar to Rajinikanth’s Baashha. Consequently, it terribly disappointed the Kollywood audience and ended up as a huge failure at the box office.
Verdict: Flop
31) Massu Engira Masilamani (2015)
From Anjaan, Suriya’s downfall began and most of his films ended up as either a failure or an average one. Massu Engira Masilamani directed by Venkat Prabhu, was one of the failure film of Suriya at that phase. Venkat Prabhu was considered a peak commercial director at that time and since Suriya collaborated with him for an super natural Commercial entertainer, Massu Engira Masilamani had high hopes among the audiences and many Suriya fans believed that this film would help him make a comeback from the setback of Anjaan. However, Massu Engira Masilamani also ended up as another disappointing attempt and crashed at the box office.
Verdict: Flop
32) Pasanga 2 (2016)
Pasanga 2 directed by Pandiraj, was a children’s film and Suriya acted in an extended cameo in this film. Although this film was not considered Suriya’s lead film, it performed well at the box office with the hype created by Suriya’s extended cameo appearance. After the back to back failures of Anjaan and Massu Engira Masilamani, the success of this film gave some relief to the actor.
Verdict: Hit
33) 24 (2016)
After the back to back failures of the commercial entertainers Anjaan and Massu Engira Masilamani, Suriya decided to make a comeback with an sci fi experimental film 24 directed by Vikram Kumar. Although this film received super positive responses from the critics and Suriya’s acting performance as a powerful villain earned him a lot of appreciation, 24 ended up as an average performer at the box office. Despite being made with a budget of around 70 crores, this film struggled to cross the breakeven point in many centres.
Verdict: Average
34) Si3 (2017)
Si3 is the third installment of Suriya’s most celebrated Singam franchise directed by Hari. Especially since both Singam and Singam 2 are blockbuster successes, many believed that this film would put an end to Suriya’s failure streak and the actor would reclaim his throne. But, unfortunately, Si3 ended up as a huge disappointment and wasn’t upto it’s expectations. However, just because of the solid pre-release buzz, the film managed to collect around 100 crore at the box office and ended up as an average performer at the box office.
Verdict: Average
35) Thaanaa Serndha Koottam (2018)
While everything went out of Suriya’s hands and no films gave him the expected results, he made some out of the ordinary collaborations at this phase and Thaanaa Serndha Koottam under the direction of Vignesh Shivan is one among them. Although, Suriya acted in many fun filled entertainers in the early stages of his career, he stopped doing it once he started doing mass commercial films and experimental films, but when he was striving to deliver a success, he tried the fun filled entertainer Thaanaa Serndha Koottam, but it also didnt gave the expected result for the actor and ended up as an another disappointment at the box office.
Verdict: Average
36) NGK (2019)
NGK directed by Selvaraghavan, is yet another out of his zone film. Since this unusual collaboration had created massive expectations among the audiences, NGK enjoyed a massive opening and some sources even claim that it’s the career best opening for Suriya. However, despite Suriya’s solid performance, NGK received mixed responses from the audience and ended up as yet another average performer at the box office for Suriya.
Verdict: Average
37) Kaappaan (2019)
After the streak of failures and average films, Suriya tried to make a comeback by joining hands with the director KV Anand for Kaappaan. Kaappaan received mixed responses from the audience and didn’t give the expected result for Suriya. Also, many people criticized the release slot of this film, as despite the mixed responses the film was sandwiched by Dhanush’s Asuran at the box office and ended up as a disaster for Suriya.
Verdict: Flop
38) Soorarai Pottru (2020)
Soorarai Pottru directed by Sudha Kongara, finally gave Suriya the much-needed breakthrough after a long failure phase. But, unfortunately this film was released directly on OTT due to the COVID restrictions. Also, this film has triggered lots of hatred against Suriya, because no one was happy with the direct OTT release of the film, particularly many distributors heavily criticized the actor. However, Soorarai Pottru ended up as one of the iconic films in Suriya’s career and he also won his first National Award as the best actor for his acting performance in this film.
Verdict: OTT Blockbuster
39) Jai Bhim (2021)
Following Soorarai Pottru another peak film of Suriya, which is Jai Bhim directed by TJ Gnanavel, was also released directly on OTT during the COVID lockdown. Although Suriya acted in an extended cameo role in this film, his revolutionary character in the film created a massive impact and this film earned him a huge appreciation for his acting performance. However, this film’s OTT release frustrated his fans even more because if Soorarai Pottru and Jai Bhim were released in theatres, they would’ve done a rampage at the box office and helped him to reclaim his throne, but unfortunately, both films were released on OTT.
Verdict: OTT Blockbuster
40) Etharkkum Thunindhavan (2022)
Etharkkum Thunindhavan directed by Pandiraj was Suriya’s first theatrical release post-COVID lockdown. Since his films Soorarai Pottru and Jai Bhim were super blockbuster successes on OTT, many believed that this film would do wonders at the box office. But shockingly, this film received mixed responses from the audiences and failed to perform well at the box office.
Verdict: Average
41) Vikram (2022)
When Suriya’s theatrical business hit rock bottom, the cameo appearance as Rolex in the most anticipated film Vikram directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, completely changed the momentum and gave Suriya a much-needed boost in his career. Although Suriya just played a cameo role in this film, it ended up as the major highlight of the film and created a huge impact on the audience. Consequently, now the whole Kollywood audience is eagerly awaiting with massive expectations for the Standalone film for Rolex from Lokesh Kanagaraj and Suriya.
Verdict: Blockbuster
42) Sarfira (2024)
Sarfira is the Hindi remake of Suriya’s blockbuster Soorarai Pottru directed by Sudha Kongara. Since Sudha Kongara asked Suriya to make a cameo appearance in Sarfira, he agreed to be part of it. However, since Soorarai Pottru itself was released directly on OTT and watched by the majority of other language audiences, no one was interested to watch it’s Hindi remake, Sarfira in theatres. Therefore, Sarfira ended up as a failure at the box office.
Verdict: Disaster
43) Kanguva (2024)
Kanguva was a nightmare for Suriya and his fans. This film was directed by Siruthai Siva, and it was made with a budget of more than 300 crores. The producer of this film in the pre-release events, had overhyped the film and was even confident that this film would have collected more than 2000 crore at the box office. But shockingly, the film doesn’t satisfy even 10% of the audience’s expectations and became a troll fest among the audience. Due to the disaster reviews, Kanguva collected only 100 crore at the box office and ended up as a huge loss venture for the production house, resulting in a black mark in Suriya’s career.
Verdict: Disaster
44) Retro (2025)
After the terrible failure of Kanguva, Suriya joined hands with Karthik Subbaraj for a mass commercial entertainer film Retro, to make a comeback. Everything released from the film before its release was a viral hit and the songs composed by Santhosh Narayanan for this film were a chartbuster success. These factors created massive expectations for the film and consequently, the film enjoyed a solid opening. However, despite the solid first half, due to the poor screenplay of Karthik Subbaraj, the film failed to meet the audience’s expectations and ended up as an average performer at the box office.
Verdict: Average
45) Karuppu (2026)
Following the back to back failures of Kanguva and Retro, Suriya returned with his anticipated film Karuppu directed by RJ Balaji and it was released in theatres recently. Since Suriya acted in a rural commercial entertainer after a long time, this film has generated significant hype for the film. While the early reports for this film is positive, it remains to be seen how Karuppu is going to perform at the box office in the coming days and whether it manages to achieve a theatrical blockbuster success for Suriya after 13 years, while his last theatrical super hit film was Singam 2.
Suriya has already completed the shooting for his 46th film titled Viswanathan & Sons directed by Venky Atluri and the makers of this film are aiming for a theatrical release in July. At the same time, he is currently acting in his 47th film tentatively titled Suriya 47 directed by the Malayalam director Jithu Madhavan. With the back to back promising films gearing up for release, we have to wait and watch whether Suriya makes a massive comeback in his acting career and emerges as the Superstar of the Kollywood industry, which is striving for a Superstar in the future.
