Suriya, in arguably his first convincing performace as the lead, plays the young, enthusiastic guy who tries to woo his lover's family in Vasanth's Poovellam Kettuppar (1999), to the tee.
Suriya plays the quiet and resigned Chandru, who values friendship above other things, in Siddique's 2001 film, Friends. He almost matches the performance of Mukesh in the original Malayalam film.Suriya's first breakout role came in the form of Bala's Nandha. As the rash youngster with anger-management issues, who grows up as a juvenile convict, Suriya was just apt.As the introverted, but witty Gautham, who abhors the concept of 'love' and 'companionship', Suriya is in top form in Ameer's Mounam Pesiyadhey.Suriya plays the quintessential Gautham Menon hero, Anbuchelvan IPS, with effortless ease in Kaakha Kaakha, which launched the actor into the big league.Suriya aces the boisterous, comical act in Pitha Magan, a performance that the actor himself would find it hard to match. The way Suriya brings out the character's vulnerability is one for the ages.Suriya plays the witty hunchback and the violent college student in Perazhagan, and almost comes out unscathed in the actor's first tryst with a dual role.Suriya's portrayal of Vasanth, an influential student leader who wants to be the change, instead of calling for a change, in Mani Ratnam's Aayutha Ezhuthu, won widespread critical acclaim.Suriya let his guard down on his hero-image for once in Singampuli's Maayavi. He is delightful as Abhes Balayya, the footloose and fancy-free conman-guide, who kidnaps a popular actress, in the film.As Sanjay Ramasamy, the business tycoon, who suffers a near-death experience, and sets out to avenge the murder of his fiancee, all the while battling his anterograde amnesia, Suriya is just terrific.Suriya's attempt at a breezy romcom after quite some violent films met with quite some cheer. His portrayal of the brazen Gautham in the flashback was the Arjun Reddy of its times.Hari's Vel, which has Suriya portraying twin-brothers, is an example of the 'masala genre' done right.Gautham Menon's passionate ode to his deceased dad, Varanam Aayiram, has Suriya portraying multiple stages of the bond between a father and a son, in arguably, his best performance, yet.KV Anand's action-drama Ayan reinvents the youthful, perky facet of Suriya in an entertaining way. The actor is truly in his handsome best.Suriya carves a niche for himself - in body language and dialogue delivery - in the 2010 cult action-drama, Singam. The actor owns the character of Duraisingam in Hari's signature loud style.Suriya's portrayal of Yeturi Suryanarayana Reddy a.k.a. Surya, the youngster who stands up against the mighty Pratap Ravi against all odds, in Ram Gopal Varma's Raktha Charithra, won critical acclaim.Suriya is super-convincing as Bodhidarman, the master of martial arts and medicine in the ancient Pallava dynasty, and the modern-day Aravind, who happens to be from the same bloodline, in 7aam ArivuSuriya's performance as the conjoined twins - Akhilan and Vimalan - was the only silver lining in the rather disappointing Maattrraan.Suriya, in his first villainous role in two decades, kills it as the menacing Aathreya in Vikram Kumar's brilliant time-travel drama, 24.Suriya in Thaana Serndha Kootam -the Tamil version of the infamous 1987 Opera House heist shows us what he can do when he’s allowed to have a bit of fun.