Siddharth

Siddharth Suryanarayan (born 17 April 1979), known mononymously as Siddharth, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi language films.

Apart from acting, he has also been involved in films as a screenwriter, producer and playback singer.

He has also been featured in many advertisements.

Siddharth was born on 17 April 1979 in a Tamil-speaking family in Madras (present-day Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India.

He began his education at D.A.V. Boys Senior Secondary School, Madras and then studied at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Delhi.

He subsequently graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) degree from Kirori Mal College, New Delhi.

Siddharth participated extensively in extra-curricular activities during college, serving as the president of the college's debating society and attending the World Debating Championships.

Siddharth's first tryst with media came through dubbing for the Banish mosquito repellent ad in eight different languages in 1988, as instructed by his father's close friend, ad director-cum-film director, Jayendra Panchapakesan.

He noted that he knew he was headed for a career in films since childhood, showing particular fascination for writing and directing, and thus only signed up for business school as a "safety cushion" as insisted upon by his father.

He then briefly pursued amateur theatre during his time in Delhi through live stage performances with the theatre group Players, while also honing his writing and directorial skills.

After finishing his education, he apprenticed with ad film maker Jayendra and cinematographer P. C. Sreeram, who both helped him join as an assistant director for Mani Ratnam's Kannathil Muthamittal.

He then went on to complete his MBA from S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, while also ultimately winning a speaking skills competition which earned him the CNBC Manager of the year award in 1999.

In the late 2000s, he established himself as a bankable lead actor in Telugu films and subsequently chose to become more selective with his projects, while also winning acclaim for his work as a carrom player in Striker (2010) and as a blind warrior in the fantasy film Anaganaga O Dheerudu (2011).

He worked on the film throughout 2001, also making an uncredited appearance as a passenger on a bus.

Siddharth shot for the film in 2002 alongside fellow debutants Genelia D'Souza, Bharath, Nakul, Thaman and Manikandan, while also suffering an injury which led to him being hospitalised for three days.

The story centred on six youngsters, conveying a message about the importance of a good education and career over other distractions, such as romance and sex, and marked a move away from Shankar's usual brand of vigilante films, gaining much hype and publicity prior to release.

The film opened to mixed reviews but emerged as a success at the box office, with reviewers noting the ensemble cast as "excellent".

After completing his business management studies, Siddharth chose to work in film making and assisted Mani Ratnam, before going on to make an acting debut in S. Shankar's coming-of-age Tamil film Boys (2003).

The script writer of that film, Sujatha, was insistent that Siddharth audition for Shankar's ongoing project Boys (2003), where the director had hoped to cast new actors.

After consulting with Mani Ratnam, Siddharth met Shankar for an audition and was signed on the following day to play the lead role of Munna.

The success of the film provided an opportunity to feature in Mani Ratnam's multi-starrer Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004), before he branched off to receive critical and commercial acclaim in Telugu and Hindi cinema through Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005), Rang De Basanti and Bommarillu (2006).

Before the release of Boys, Siddharth signed on to feature in his mentor Mani Ratnam's political drama film, Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004) where he played the student Arjun Balakrishnan, a role which he described was similar to his real life persona.

Featuring in an ensemble cast including Madhavan, Suriya and Trisha, Siddharth revealed that the sync sound method of filming that the team had employed, worked in his favour, as he was able to draw experience from his stage performances.

The film was released in May 2004 to positive reviews, with a critic from The Hindu noting Siddharth's portrayal as "neat", while another reviewer noted that Siddharth "is cool and discovers his comic side with some great one-liners."

Siddharth then ventured into Telugu films by signing on to appear in Prabhu Deva's first directorial project, the romantic drama Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005) in which he was again paired alongside Trisha.

Portraying the NRI youngster Santhosh, Siddharth revealed he worked hard to depict his character as "hyperactive, and unpredictable, to the point that the audience does not know what to expect from him" in order to differentiate the role from other NRI depictions in Indian films.

He also was insistent that he dubbed for himself and learned the Telugu language during the making of the film.

The film released in January 2005 to widespread critical acclaim, with several critics dubbing it a "must-see".

A reviewer from Idlebrain.com noted Siddharth is "the surprise package" of the film, adding "he epitomized the essence of his character and won the hearts of audiences with his zest portrayal of mischievous yet lovable guy".

Similarly Sify.com added "the surprise packet is Siddharth as the hyperactive, young man and he is just a riot".

The film consequently went on to become an all-time blockbuster in the Telugu film industry, and Siddharth became a much sought after actor in Telugu films.

The film also dominated award ceremonies the following year, with his performance fetching him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his portrayal of Santhosh.

He then wrote the story and worked on the screenplay for his next release, the Telugu film Chukkallo Chandrudu (2006) directed by Sivakumar, also being credited as a playback singer for the first time.

Described as a "sophisticated comedy film for multiplex crowds", it opened to mixed reviews with Siddharth's contribution described as a "redeeming factor", but failed at the box office.

The success of Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana saw Siddharth shift base to Hyderabad and pursue a career primarily in Telugu films, and was non-committal about taking up films in other languages.

In 2011, he returned to Tamil films after a sabbatical and produced Balaji Mohan's commercially successful romantic comedy Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi (2012).

The actor then had a prolific year in 2014, winning critical acclaim and box office success for his two ventures: Jigarthanda, where he portrayed an aspiring film maker, and Kaaviya Thalaivan, in which he played an actor from the 1920s Madras theater scene.

After that, he acted in Sundar C. 's horror comedy Aranmanai 2 (2016).

Then, he acted in Malayalam film Kammara Sambhavam (2018) written by Murali Gopy.

In 2019, he has acted in two Tamil films - Sivappu Manjal Pachai, directed by Sasi, and Aruvam, directed by Sai Shekar.