Actor Suriya has opened up about an incident early in his acting career that made him conscious of the comparisons with his father, veteran actor Sivakumar. Speaking in a recent interaction ahead of the release of Vishwanath and Sons, Suriya recalled how a casual remark about him following in his father’s footsteps prompted him to deliberately distance himself from Sivakumar’s work.
Sivakumar, who began his acting career with Kaakum Karangal in 1965, went on to feature in nearly 200 films during his career. Known for his work as a character and leading actor as well as his visual art, he was one of the prominent faces of Tamil cinema for several decades. Suriya and his younger brother Karthi subsequently followed him into the film industry, although Suriya has previously spoken about initially pursuing a career outside cinema.
Suriya said he himself was unaware that he would eventually become an actor. “I didn’t know I would become an actor. Five days before, I didn’t even know that I would be standing in front of a camera and acting,” he said, recalling his early days in the profession.
He then narrated an incident that happened when he was around 22 or 23. While accompanying a friend to a minister’s house to deliver a wedding invitation, Suriya was introduced as Sivakumar’s son. The minister reportedly observed his resemblance to his father and suggested that he would end up following the same path. “He looked at me and said, ‘Oh, you look like him. You’re going to do what he did. You’re going to act, and the same thing is going to happen again. You’ll copy him, have the same body language, modulation and looks. It’s going to repeat for another generation,’” Suriya recalled.
The comment stayed with him and made him conscious of the possibility of being constantly compared to his father. Suriya said the incident prompted him to stop watching Sivakumar’s films as frequently, particularly his mannerisms and dialogue delivery. “That really triggered me. I was in my early 20s, around 22 or 23, when I started acting. From then on, I actually stopped watching my father’s films and paying attention to his modulations because I didn’t want to be compared to him or end up doing what he had done,” he said.
For Suriya, the decision was not about denying his lineage but about finding an individual identity within an industry where his father had already established a reputation. “I wanted to have my own path and make sure there were no similarities,” he added.
At the same time, the actor acknowledged that completely avoiding similarities may not be possible. “Of course, I have the same DNA, so certain similarities can naturally happen. But that incident really stayed with me. I started watching his work a little less, simply because I didn’t want to be influenced by it,” he said.
Vishwanath and Sons, is directed by Venky Atluri and features Suriya as Sanjay Vishwanath, a former international pistol-shooting champion dealing with age, family responsibilities and an unexpected relationship. Mamitha Baiju plays the female lead, while Radhika Sarathkumar and Raveena Tandon are also part of the cast. The film is produced by Suryadevara Naga Vamsi and Sai Soujanya under Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinemas, with music by GV Prakash Kumar. It is scheduled to hit theatres on August 14.
