Sukumar received a breakthrough after featuring as Bharath's friend in Balaji Sakthivel's coming-of-age, love story Kaadhal (2004).
In the same year, he worked on two films starring Kamal Haasan - the village drama Virumaandi and the comedy Vasool Raja MBBS.
[1] In 2008, Sukumar received an opportunity to play the leading role in a film titled Saamipulla opposite actresses Karthika and Saranya Mohan.
[4] Sukumar next made Summave Aaduvom (2016), focusing on street artistes, starring athlete Arun Balaji and Leema Babu.
[5] The film opened to positive reviews, with a critic from The New Indian Express stating "after his disastrous directorial debut in Thiruttu VCD, Summave Aaduvom comes as a redemption of sorts for the actor-turned-maker".