[1] Making his debut as a junior artist in the movie Poovum Puyalum and as the lead in Ilaiyavan, he has subsequently been appearing mainly in supporting and comedic roles in over sixty Tamil films.

Sathyan studied at PSG College of Arts and Science in Coimbatore.

After graduating with a BBM degree, he entered the film industry by playing the lead role in the Ilaiyaraaja musical Ilaiyavan, which was produced by his father himself.

[3] He later appeared in a pivotal role in Maayavi (2005), where he worked alongside Suriya and Jyothika.

He featured as one of the four main leads in boy-adventure films Onbadhule Guru (2013) and Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham (2013), while also starring in the commercially successful romantic comedy, Raja Rani (2013).