Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who appears predominantly in Tamil films.
He also appears in works in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.
He started his career in antagonistic roles and later played lead roles.
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.
1976
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.
1978
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.
He acted in about 75 films from 1978 to 1985, most of which featured Sathyaraj in antagonist roles.
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.
1984
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.
1985
His first film as the leading hero in Tamil was Saavi in 1985, which was a box office success.
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
His first film as a lead was Rasigan Oru Rasigai (1986).
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.
Manivannan, 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.
1987
He met with success through lead performances in Vedham Pudhithu (1987), Nadigan (1990), Amaidhi Padai (1994), Periyar (2007) and Onbadhu Roobai Nottu (2007).
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.
1995
He was also the director of the film Villadhi Villain (1995), starring himself in three different roles.
2011
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.
2012
He also received acclaim for supporting roles in Nanban (2012), Raja Rani (2013), Baahubali (2015), Baahubali 2 (2017) and Kanaa (2018).
