Despite getting an opportunity to pursue further studies at an engineering college in Madurai, he declined the offer and stayed in Chennai, with the hope of finding a breakthrough as an actor in Tamil films.

[2] He subsequently worked as an assistant director in the teams of Aasai (1995) under Vasanth and Sundara Purushan (1996) under Sabapathy, while also being seen in uncredited appearances as an actor, notably as a cock fighter in Bharathiraja's Kizhakku Cheemayile (1993).

While working in the team of Ullaasam (1997), the film's lead actor Ajith Kumar recognised Suryah from their collaboration in Aasai, and accepted to listen to a script narration.

[4] A thriller film, a reviewer from the Deccan Herald described it as "definitely worth seeing" saying it "has something for all tastes — a pleasant love angle, some suspense, complex psychological nuances, good acting, pleasing songs" while praising Ajith's performance.

[8][9] After watching the première show of Vaali, producer A. M. Rathnam offered Suryah an opportunity to make another film and thus Kushi, a romantic comedy featuring Vijay and Jyothika materialised.

Pawan Kalyan had also insisted inserting few extra action sequences for the Telugu version, and despite an initial difference of opinions, Suryah eventually allowed the scenes to be filmed but refused to be at the shoot when they were shot.

In comparison to the other two versions, the film received negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office, with a critic writing "plenty of Suryah's scenes are also somewhat contrived, in the vein of those eighties family pot-boilers... [she] just cannot get effective emoting from his lead actors".

[18] New released on 9 July 2004 to mixed reviews, with a critic from The Hindu claiming that "belonging to a genre that is rare to our cinema, New however, gets bogged down in a mire of duets and double entenders", but hinted at potential success citing that director "seems to have hit the bull's eye.

Suryah was then arrested by city police for allegedly throwing a mobile phone at a woman censor board official in a fit of anger during the post-production of the film.

[23] A further case was launched in March 2006, with the Censor Board filing a complaint against Surya for using stills from scenes that were deleted from the film, with a poster which showed Suryah resting on Simran's cleavage resurfacing.

He revealed that he was inspired to make the film to convey that young lovers must give each other space and wanted to showcase that attitudes towards relationships by the Indian youth was changing from the previous decade.

The film opened to mixed reviews in September 2005, with Sify.com labelling it as "adult entertainment" though added he "tries hard to bring his character Shiva to life but has to go miles as far as dialogue delivery and voice modulation goes but has improved leaps and bound on the dancing front".

[28] Suryah began pre-production work on a directorial venture, Aezhumazhai vs Chitra, a romantic comedy starring Silambarasan and Asin, in January 2005 and the team released images taken from a promotional photo shoot.

[31][32] Suryah then began work on a venture titled Puli, a police thriller which would feature Vijay in the lead role, and would have Navodaya Appachan as the producer.

[35] In January 2006, Isai was reported to be back under way with either S. S. Chakravarthy or Navodaya Appachan being producer and it was suggested that the film would be about a "cunning assistant music director comes to the top".

Following the postponement of several of his projects, Suryah revealed in April 2006 that he would direct and star in a venture titled Pesum Deivangal for children and family audiences, in an attempt to remove the "sleazy" image he had been associated to in films.

He was cast as a casanova in Tamilvannan's romantic comedy Kalvanin Kadhali (2006) opposite Nayantara, and the film garnered the industry's anticipation prior to release.

[42] He made a brief comeback as a lead actor in the psychological thriller Newtonin Moondram Vidhi (2009), which won good reviews but only performed averagely at the box office.

[43] Suryah announced he would re-begin work on his directorial venture Puli, but would instead make it as a Telugu film and Pawan Kalyan would play the lead role.

[44] Produced by Singanamala Ramesh, he signed on A. R. Rahman to compose the film's music, while newcomer Nikeesha Patel was selected to play the lead actress.

Suryah's 2019 venture is Monster, a comedy film co-starring Priya Bhavani Shankar and directed by Nelson Venkatesan of Oru Naal Koothu fame.

For his debut in the web series Vadhandhi, he toned down his traditionally exaggerated mannerisms to embrace a more restrained and realistic performance, aligning with the subtler demands of the OTT medium.

[94] Suryah's on-screen image is also shaped by his frequent portrayal of complex characters, such as his role in Jigarthanda DoubleX, where he matches strides with fellow actor Raghava Lawrence in a gritty gangster saga.

His portrayal in the film, alongside the stylized action sequences, showcases his ability to handle layered roles that combine raw emotion with dramatic flair.