[13] Arya was the prospective bridegroom on the show Enga Veetu Mapillai aired on Colors Tamil searching for a perfect bride from the 16 contestants.

[25] His next release, the delayed Ullam Ketkumae, portraying Arya as a college cricketer, also carried good reviews and was a successful venture at the box office.

[26] His third release in 2005, was the campus romance story, Oru Kalluriyin Kathai opposite Sonia Agarwal, took a strong opening[27] but failed to find commercial acceptance.

[28] His next, Igor's thriller Kalabha Kadhalan, where he played an engineer pursued romantically by an aggressive sister-in-law, won favourable reviews from critics but failed commercially.

The film, was shot across the slums of Chennai and told the story of two ruthless underworld hitmen, with Pooja and Padmapriya also playing major roles.

[33] In 2007, Arya played a guest appearance in Cheran's Maya Kannadi as himself before his long-delayed Oram Po, previously known as Auto, released in late 2007.

Prior to release the film gained cult status for its innovative trailer, with Arya playing a Chennai-based auto driver who competes in races at nights, while Pooja was his pair again.

As per, the film took three years to complete with Arya growing a full-length beard for the production thus making him unable to sign other projects, while he often cited the intense pressure and the hardships of the shoot.

[37] Arya appeared as an Aghori in the film situated in Kasi but is forced to relocate to Tamil Nadu, where he duly encounters an underworld which gains collections through the torture of the handicapped, with Pooja, yet again playing a significant role.

[39] After a guest role in Rajesh's Siva Manasula Sakthi, he then collaborated with Vishnuvardhan for the third time in his romantic-thriller, Sarvam, an anthology film also featuring Trisha Krishnan, J. D. Chakravarthy, Rohan Shiva and Indrajith.

Arya played a carefree young architect who falls in love and pursues Trisha, before another thread in the film interlocks with his portions and changes his situation.

The big budget film progressed with its schedules with little publicity for a year, with Arya portraying the role of Ilamparithi, a dhobi situated in a community of Washermanpet who falls in love with the daughter of a governor.

[50] His final release in 2010 was in a dual role in the romantic travelogue film, Chikku Bukku by Manikandan, featuring Shriya Saran and Preetika.

The film, shot extensively in London and Karaikudi, received a mixed response and fared averagely at the box office, with Arya's performance being described by critics as from "watchable and dependable" to "morose and silent".

"[53] Arya eventually clarified in a letter,[56] that he had "never made derogatory statements about the Tamil film industry",[57] which was his "bread and butter",[58] further quoting: "I can never forget such a support extended by my fans.

[60] In March 2011, he was signed by director Mani Ratnam to essay the role of Arulmozhi Varman in his epic film Ponniyin Selvan, based on the same-titled novel by writer Kalki Krishnamurthy,[61] which however did not materialize.

[72] He will have guest appearances in three forthcoming films: Madha Gaja Raja,[73] Parimala Thiraiyarangam[74] and Kadhal 2 Kalyanam, which features his brother, Sathya in the lead role.