S Justin Selvaraj (born 1969 (age 32) ) known by his stage name S. J. Suryah is an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor, composer, producer and music director who has works predominantly in Tamil cinema.
He sought to become an actor but started out directing, assisting Vasanth and Sabhapathy.
1988
New told the tale of an 8-year-old boy who is turned into a 28-year-old man by a scientist and Suryah noted that he was loosely inspired by the Hollywood film Big (1988).
The film was shot in hundred days, with Suryah revealing he would often stop acting in between the scenes, when he knew that his performance was not up to his expectation as a director.
1995
He subsequently worked as an assistant director in the teams of Aasai (1995) under Vasanth and Sundara Purushan (1996) under Sabapathy, while also being seen in uncredited appearances as an actor, notably as a cock fighter in Bharathiraja's Kizhakku Cheemayile (1993).
1997
While working in the team of Ullaasam (1997), the film's lead actor Ajith Kumar recognised Suryah from their collaboration in Aasai, and accepted to listen to a script narration.
1999
Surya made his directorial debut with Vaali in 1999 whose success catapulted him to stardom.
Ajith, impressed with the narration, subsequently helped approach S. S. Chakravarthy to produce the film and the team began work on Vaali (1999) in late 1997.
Keerthi Reddy was announced to be the lead actress before she was replaced by Simran, while Suryah also chose to introduce Jyothika in the film.
A thriller film, a reviewer from the Deccan Herald described it as "definitely worth seeing" saying it "has something for all tastes — a pleasant love angle, some suspense, complex psychological nuances, good acting, pleasing songs" while praising Ajith's performance.
The reviewer from Indolink.com labelled the film as "a classic in its own right", describing Suryah as "a new young director to the cine field who can make Tamil Cinema be proud once again".
The New Indian Express mentioned the film as "outstanding" while mentioning Surya does a "good job and succeeds".
The film's commercial success meant that it provided a breakthrough for both Suryah's and the lead actors' careers.
After watching the première show of Vaali, producer A. M. Rathnam offered Suryah an opportunity to make another film and thus Kushi, a romantic comedy featuring Vijay and Jyothika materialised.
2000
His other notable films include Kushi (2000), New (2004), Anbe Aaruyire (2005) and Isai (2015).
Telling the story of a pair of egoistic lovers with a college backdrop, the film was shot in early 2000 across South India and New Zealand.
The film opened to positive reviews from critics in May 2000 and also went on to achieve box office success.
Rediff.com gave a positive verdict stating that the movie is a "neat family entertainer", praising the director's story-telling, while Bizhat.com also gave the movie a positive review.
The Hindu featured the film as runner-up in their list of top Tamil films in 2000, while Jyothika went on to win the Filmfare Best Actress Award in Tamil for her performance in the film.
The team then approached Pawan Kalyan to star in a Telugu version of the film and after a positive narration session, the actor prioritised the venture over two other films.
Bhumika Chawla was added to the cast to play Jyothika's role, while a few changes were inserted to make it fit for the Telugu audiences.
Pawan Kalyan had also insisted inserting few extra action sequences for the Telugu version, and despite an initial difference of opinions, Suryah eventually allowed the scenes to be filmed but refused to be at the shoot when they were shot.
2001
The film also titled as Kushi (2001), opened to positive reviews and went on to become the most successful Telugu film ever at release in June 2001.
A film critic noted Suryah "has come up with another winner this time. There is no story in this film, but it runs with a neat screenplay", adding "he has done an extraordinary job as screenplay writer".
Suryah began pre-production work on a third story titled New in early 2001, which he would also produce.
Starring Ajith Kumar and Jyothika, music director Deva had composed ten songs for the film by June 2001.
After Ajith Kumar had become busy with other commitments, Suryah decided to enact the lead role himself, revealing he had always wanted to be an actor.
Simran signed on to play the leading female character, while Kiran and Devayani were cast in pivotal roles.
A simultaneously shot Telugu version titled Naani featuring Mahesh Babu in the lead role, with Amisha Patel, Ramya Krishnan and Devayani in supporting roles was also made.
2003
He made a third version of the film, Khushi (2003) in Hindi, for producer Boney Kapoor, with Fardeen Khan and Kareena Kapoor starring.
In comparison to the other two versions, the film received negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office, with a critic writing "plenty of Suryah's scenes are also somewhat contrived, in the vein of those eighties family pot-boilers... [she] just cannot get effective emoting from his lead actors".
2004
New released on 9 July 2004 to mixed reviews, with a critic from The Hindu claiming that "belonging to a genre that is rare to our cinema, New however, gets bogged down in a mire of duets and double entenders", but hinted at potential success citing that director "seems to have hit the bull's eye."
The movie subsequently went on to become a blockbuster, with music composed by A. R. Rahman being labelled as one of the film's largest selling points.
Naani opened the following month to mixed reviews from critics, with a reviewer noting the film suffers from "a bad script and artificialness".
The film's adult theme generated controversy, and post-release, women activists in the state of Tamil Nadu demanded a ban on a film after release, which they say contained obscene sex scenes.
Suryah responded by claiming that the sex scenes are there because the story line requires them and described his film as "fiction laced with sex and comedy".
2006
He made his acting debut with New and went on to act in films like Kalvanin Kadhali (2006), Thirumagan (2007), Vyabari (2007) and appeared as the antagonist in Spyder (2017), Mersal (2017), Maanaadu (2021), Don (2022) and Mark Antony (2023) and as the protagonist in Kadamaiyai Sei (2022) and Jigarthanda DoubleX (2023).
After completing his schooling near his birthplace in Vasudevanallur near Puliangudi in South Tamil Nadu, Suryah moved to Chennai to complete a physics degree at Loyola College.
Despite getting an opportunity to pursue further studies at an engineering college in Madurai, he declined the offer and stayed in Chennai, with the hope of finding a breakthrough as an actor in Tamil films.
To be financially self-dependent, he began working in hotels and as a steward, before receiving an offer to apprentice under K. Bhagyaraj.
