[2] During the subsequent years he acted in many Telugu and Kannada films portraying lead and supporting roles in Trimurtulu (1987), Premagni (1989), Prathap (1990) and Shivanaga (1992).
Sarja won critical acclaim for portraying an ambitious television reporter who became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for a day.
The films, Giri (2004) and Marudhamalai (2007) were box office hits, while several were average grossers including Madrasi (2006), Vathiyar (2006) and Durai (2008).
In 2011, he starred alongside Ajith Kumar in Venkat Prabhu's crime thriller Mankatha, which became a box office success.
He then acted in the Telugu film Naa Peru Surya, followed by the Tamil action movie Irumbu Thirai (2018), which later became a blockbuster at the box office.