sathyaraj

Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also include works in Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.

He started his career in antagonistic roles and later played lead roles. He met with success through lead performances in ''Vedham Pudhithu'' (1987), '' Nadigan'' (1990), ''Amaidhi Padai'' (1994), '' Periyar'' (2007) and ''Onbadhu Roobai Nottu'' (2007). He also received acclaim for supporting roles in '' Nanban'' (2012), ''Mirchi'' (2013), '' Raja Rani'' (2013), '' Baahubali'' (2015), '' Baahubali 2'' (2017), '' Kanaa'' (2018), and ''Jersey'' (2019). He was also the director of the film '' Villadhi Villain'' (1995), starring himself in three different roles.

In 2011, he had a brief career as a television host for the game show ''Home Sweet Home'' on STAR Vijay. He has also served as a brand ambassador for Pothys, Susi Emu farms, and Kumaran jewellery Shop.

Early life

Sathyaraj was born as Rangaraj on 3 October 1954 to Subbiah, a doctor, and Nathambal, with two younger sisters, namely Kalpana Mandradiar and Roopa Senapathy. He is an ardent fan of M. G. Ramachandran and Hindi actor Rajesh Khanna. Sathyaraj completed his primary school education in St Mary's Convent school, Coimbatore and later studied for tenth standard from Suburban High School, Ramnagar, Coimbatore. He went to Government Arts College, Coimbatore, for a Bachelor of Science degree in botany.

Sathyaraj's dream was to become an actor, but his mother was against it and forbid him to join cinema. In 1976, in spite of his mother's opposition, he left Coimbatore to enter the Tamil film industry based in Kodambakkam, Chennai.

Sathyaraj entered the film industry after witnessing the shooting of the film ''Annakili'', where he met actor Sivakumar and producer Thiruppur Manian and started pestering them to help him fulfill his cinematic ambitions. Sivakumar vehemently criticized his interest in acting and advised him to immediately return home. Nevertheless, he remained in Chennai. Producer Maathampatty Sivakumar supported him with sending money every month. He joined the drama troupe of Komal Swamynathan. Sathyaraj's first film in a credited role as an actor was '' Sattam En Kaiyil'', in 1978, where he played a henchman to the main villain played by Thengai Srinivasan in the film. Later, he worked as production manager for the film '' Kannan Oru Kaikkuzhanthai''.

In addition to his managerial role, he also had a small acting part in the film. His first film as the leading hero in Tamil was '' Saavi'' in 1985, which was a box office success. He acted in about 75 films from 1978 to 1985, most of which featured Sathyaraj in antagonist roles.

Career

1978–1985: Early career

In his early career between 1978 and 1982, the antagonistic roles he played were often henchman to the main villain M. N. Nambiar and other villains and his role would be minor, while the main lead was Sivaji Ganesan, Jaishankar, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and Vijayakanth. His college friend Manivannan directed Sathyaraj for the first time in the Tamil film ''January 1'' in 1984, where Sathyaraj had a supporting role. Manivannan directed Sathyaraj in about 25 films from 1984 to 2013 and of them 18 had Sathyaraj as the main lead. His screen space as a villain increased after '' 24 Mani Neram'' (1984), directed by Manivannan, in which Sathyaraj's role was on par with that of lead actor Mohan. His acting skills in the film were noticed by many and he became famous among the Tamil film audience. Sathyaraj also felt that his villainous roles in '' Nooravathu Naal'' and ''Anbin Mugavari'', both again directed by Manivannan, had better footage than that of Vijayakanth's and Mohan's. In '' Needhiyin Nizhal'' (1985), which featured Prabhu in the lead role, Sathyaraj had a minuscule supporting role and played second fiddle to the main villain M. N. Nambiar. Sathyaraj started receiving offers to act as the hero in Tamil films from 1985. Directors were reluctant to cast him as the protagonist as his second film as a lead actor '' Iravu Pookkal'' (1985) was not a success. Most of the films he was part of were of the action genre in this period.

1986–1989: Lead roles

In the 1986 film '' Kadalora Kavithaigal'', he played the lead romantic role and ''Behindwoods'' said: "Sathyaraj broke his image of an action hero and came up with a rollicking performance. He is the real star of the film." He received appreciation for playing his role in ''Mr. Bharath'' (1986), which revolved around the conflict between father, played by Sathyaraj and son (Rajinikanth). Sathyaraj acted as Rajinikanth's father in the film, though he was in fact 4 years younger than Rajinikanth. Manivanan, being friends with Sathyaraj, kept casting him in roles in his directorial ventures, regularly showcasing different emotions from Sathyaraj in films such as ''Muthal Vasantham'', ''Palaivana Rojakkal'' and '' Vidinja Kalyanam''.

After ''Kadalora Kavithaigal'', Sathyaraj had box office hits as the lead hero between 1986 and 1988 such as ''Mandhira Punnagai'', '' Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu'', ''Poovizhi Vasalile'', ''Makkal En Pakkam'' (in which he had dual roles), '' Annanagar Mudhal Theru'', ''En Bommukutty Ammavukku'' and '' Chinnappadass''. Manivanan from 1987 onward started casting Sathyaraj in positive roles and their combination had box office hits like ''Chinna Thambi Periya Thambi'', ''Jallikattu'', ''Ganam Courtar Avargale'' and ''Chinnappadas'' in this period. Sathyaraj received the Best Tamil Actor award in Filmfare Awards South for his performance in ''Vedham Pudhithu'' (1987).

Sathyaraj had established himself as a leading actor and in ''Chinna Thambi Periya Thambi'', in which Prabhu and Sathyaraj were cast in the starring role, Prabhu's character played second fiddle to Sathyaraj's character. He played a bespectacled leading man in the commercially successful ''Ganam Courtaar Avargaley'' His 99th film was '' Dravidan'' and his 100th film was '' Vaathiyaar Veettu Pillai'' but the latter fared better at the box office.

1990–1999: Breakthrough

In the 90s, he attempted more films of comedy and action genres and occasionally did romantic films. He had few unsuccessful films such as '' Madurai Veeran Enga Saami'', '' Magudam'', ''Pangali'' and '' Kattalai'' in this period as he became selective of choosing his roles as main lead hero. Many of them were commercially successful, such as ''Velai Kidaichuduchu'', '' Nadigan'', '' Pudhu Manithan'', ''Rickshaw Mama'', ''Walter Vetrivel'', ''Airport'', ''Thai Maaman'' ''Veera Padhakkam'' and '' Azhagarsamy''. Sathyaraj played a dual role as father and son in the box office hit '' Amaithipadai'', which is considered among his best performances. With regard to the film, he has stated: "I have no words for that film, as it took me to the next level as an actor". He also said that he almost did not sign up for the film as it was an antagonist character and he had moved away from antagonist roles and "gained some respectability" with films such as ''Poovizhi Vaasalile'', ''Vedham Pudhidhu'' and ''Walter Vetrivel''. After ''Thai Maaman'' became successful in 1994, the same team of Sathyaraj and director Guru Dhanapal decided to do their next venture ''Maaman Magal'' in 1995, which was also a moderate hit. He acted, produced and directed in his 125th film '' Villadhi Villain'', which had him in three distinct roles and it was a successful project.

His pairing opposite actress Khushbu and Meena became popular in this decade. The box office hits of the pair Kushboo-Sathyaraj include ''Nadigan'', '' Bramma'', ''Rickshaw Mama'', ''Kalyana Galatta'', ''Suyamvaram'', ''Malabar Police'' and ''Unnai Kann Theduthey''. The on-screen pair of Sathyaraj-Meena together had average grossers such as ''Thai Maaman'', '' Maaman Magal'' and ''Vallal''. His chemistry with actors Goundamani and Senthil

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