Suraj Venjarammood

Suraj Vasudevan (born 30 June 1976), professionally credited as Suraj Venjaramoodu, is an Indian actor, comedian, impressionist, and television presenter, who appears in Malayalam films, television and stage plays. He has acted in more than 250 films. He has won a National Film Award and four Kerala State Film Awards.

Throughout the 2000s and towards mid-2010s, he played comedic roles in numerous films and won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Comedian three times (2009, 2010, 2013). In his later career, he found success in playing character and leading roles. In 2013, Suraj won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his lead role in ''Perariyathavar''. In 2019, he won Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for '' Android Kunjappan Version 5.25'' and ''Vikruthi''.

Early life

Suraj is the youngest of the three children of Venjaramood K. Vasudevan Nair, a retired soldier from the Indian Army and Vilasini, a housewife. He was called "Kuttappan" by his parents and relatives. His elder brother V. Saji, was also an officer in Indian Army. His sister Sunitha V. V. is married and settled in Thiruvananthapuram. Suraj also wanted to serve in the Army after completing his Secondary School Leaving Certificate, but had to give up as he broke his arm in a bicycle accident. He received his primary education from K.V.M.L.P.S, Venjaramoodu. He completed his Mechanical diploma course from ''Government ITI, Attingal'' and turned to mimicry soon after. His breakthrough came with ''Jagapoka'', a comedy program which was broadcast on Kairali TV.

Film career

Suraj started his career as a stand-up comedian. His mimicry shows were a success with the audience and he was noted for his artificial mockery of the Thiruvananthapuram accent. Later, he was also criticised for this from some audience during his early film career. He first acted in a film named ''Jagapoga'' which was a spoof of Malayalam movies. He played the role of Pachan as well as ''Dadasahib'' in this film. However the movie was a box office flop and received negative reviews. Suraj then went on to act in several minor roles in films such as ''Rasikan'', ''Achuvinte Amma'', ''Bus Conductor'' and ''Rasathanthram''. Suraj grabbed the attention in Malayalam film industry after he assisted Mammootty with the Thiruvananthapuram accent in ''Rajamanikyam'' (2005). He would go on to act alongside Mammootty in many comedy films. The duo is considered one of the most memorable onscreen duos in Malayalam cinema. His first breakthrough came with ''Thuruppugulan'' (2006) where he played the sidekick role for the character of Mammootty. Suraj then went on to play the comedy roles in several hit films such as ''Classmates'', ''Pachakkuthira'', ''Chotta Mumbai'' and ''Hallo''. In 2007, he got his first major supporting role again in a Mammootty starrer ''Mayavi'', which became another major breakthrough in his career. Suraj received appreciation for his role as ''Peethamparan'' in ''Annan Thambi'' and ''Jabbar'' in ''Lollipop'', both of which released in 2008. He played the lead role for the first time with ''Duplicate'' (2009). Suraj's iconic comedy character ''Dasamoolam Damu'' came out with the movie ''Chattambinaadu'' (2009) starring Mammootty. The character became popular several years after the release of ''Chattambinaadu'' and eventually attained a cult status. He won his first Kerala State Film Award in 2009, by winning the award for the Best Comedian for his performance in ''Ivar Vivahitharayal''. He won the award again two times in 2010 and 2013 for the movies ''Oru Naal Varum'' and ''Daivathinte Swantham Cleetus'' respectively. Suraj's another popular comedy character is ''Idivettu Sugunan'' which came out with ''Pokkiriraja'' (2010). He was also praised for his role as ''Vadivelu'' in the Dileep starrer comedy movie ''Karyasthan''. Suraj played some memorable roles in the movies ''China Town'' and ''Teja Bhai & family'', both released in 2011. His other memorable comedy roles came out with the movies such as ''Mallu Singh'', '' Mr. Marumakan'', '' 101 Weddings'', ''Manthrikan'', ''Sound Thoma,'' ''Pullipulikalum Aattinkuttiyum'', ''Ring Master'', ''Bhaiyya Bhaiyya'', ''Cousins'' and ''Two Countries''.

Suraj's potential to play the character and lead roles came out in 2013 as he won that year's National Award for his performance in ''Perariyathavar'', at the 61st National Film Awards. Noted filmmaker and jury chairman Saeed Mirza, while announcing Suraj's award in a press meet, said: "Suraj has played a municipal sweeper n the filmbut it is an incredibly dignified performance. He excels in comedy but in this film Suraj has brilliantly played a reticent character. I would not have been able to sleep had his name not been in the list of awardees".

Suraj received critical appreciation for his acting with a potent cameo in ''Action Hero Biju'' (2016). This movie was also a turning point in his career and a breakthrough performance as he underwent a complete evolution with his acting. In ''Karinkunnam 6's'', he portrayed a ruthless police officer and in ''Oru Muthassi Gadha'', he played the lead role. Suraj returned to do the comedy role with the 2016 blockbuster ''Pulimurugan''. In the movie ''Aby'' (2017) he played the character of a selfish neighbour. Suraj's another critically acclaimed performance came out with ''Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum'' (2017), where he played a lead character alongside Fahad Fasil, who also received appreciation for his performance. He went on to play lead roles in ''Varnyathil Aashanka'' and ''Kuttanpillayude Sivarathri'' (2018). He bagged the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Actor in 2019 for his performance in ''Vikruthi'' and '' Android Kunjappan Version 5.25'', both the films in which he played a lead role alongside Soubin Shahir. His performance in ''Driving License'' alongside Prithviraj also received appreciation. In 2021, Suraj played the lead role in ''The Great Indian Kitchen'' which received positive reactions from various film critics and was well received by the audience. In 2022, he played a pivotal role in Prithviraj starrer ''Jana Gana Mana'' which was critically acclaimed and was a commercial success.

Personal life

In 2005, Suraj married Supriya at Vaikuntam Auditorium, near Padmanabhaswamy Temple. They have three children: Kashinathan, Vasudev and Hridya. Kashinathan has acted in the films ''Annan Thampi'' and '' Teja Bhai & Family''.

An accident occurred on the Thammanam-Karanakodam road on the night of July 29, 2023 when Suraj was behind the wheel of a speeding car. The collision resulted in injuries to a bike rider, 31-year-old Sarath from Manjeri, who suffered a fracture in his right big toe along with injuries to other toes. This results in a ban of Suraj's licence by Kerala Motor Vehicles Department.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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Profile
at msidb.org

Interview on ''JB Junction'' – ''YouTube''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venjaramoodu, Suraj
Indian male film actors
Male actors from Thiruvananthapuram
Living people
1976 births
Male actors in Malayalam cinema
Indian male comedians
Best Actor National Film Award winners
21st-century Indian male actors
Malayalam comedians
Indian male television actors
Male actors in Malayalam television
Indian male voice actors
Male actors in Hindi television
Indian impressionists (entertainers)