He met with success through lead performances in Vedham Pudhithu (1987), Nadigan (1990), Amaidhipadai (1994), Periyar (2007) and Onbadhu Roobai Nottu (2007).

[4] Sathyaraj was born as Rangaraj on 3 October 1954 to Subbiah, a doctor, and Nathambal, with two younger sisters, namely Kalpana Mandradiar and Roopa Senapathy.

In 1976, in spite of his mother's opposition, he left Coimbatore to enter the Tamil film industry based in Kodambakkam, Chennai.

[7][15] In his early career (between 1978 and 1982), Sathyaraj often played antagonistic roles, typically as a henchman to main villains like M. N. Nambiar.

His roles were minor, with leading actors such as Sivaji Ganesan, Jaishankar, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, and Vijayakanth dominating the screen.

Sathyaraj's breakthrough came when his college friend, Manivannan, directed him in the Tamil film Nooravathu Naal (1984), where he had a supporting role.

In Rasigan Oru Rasigai (1986), directed by Balu Anand, Sathyaraj made his debut as a hero with Ambika as his heroine.

[18] Next, in Kadalora Kavithaigal (1986), as Chinnappa Das, he played the lead romantic role[19][20][21] and Behindwoods said: "Sathyaraj broke his image of an action hero and came up with a rollicking performance.

He had few unsuccessful films such as Madurai Veeran Enga Saami, Magudam and Pangali in this period as he became selective of choosing his roles as main lead hero.

Many of them were commercially successful, such as Velai Kidaichuduchu, Nadigan, Pudhu Manithan, Rickshaw Mama, Walter Vetrivel, Udan Pirappu, Thai Maaman and Bramma.

Sathyaraj played a dual role as father and son in the box office hit Amaithipadai, which is considered among his best performances.

The box office hits of the pair Kushboo-Sathyaraj include Nadigan, Bramma, Rickshaw Mama, Kalyana Galatta, Suyamvaram and Malabar Police.

His chemistry with actors Goundamani and Senthil has been well received and appreciated by the public and hence they have appeared in many movies together from Vaazhkai Chakkaram in 1990.

As many new young actors such as Ajith Kumar, Vijay and Prashanth who debuted in the 1990s had established themselves successfully by 2000, and others such as R. Madhavan, Jiiva and Srikanth made their mark in the mid-2000s and also since Sathyaraj had been using wigs since 1985 in films as he had begun losing hair since then, critics felt Sathyaraj's career as solo lead actor may end by 2000.

Sathyaraj and director Sakthi Chidambaram's combination gave 3 consecutive films, Ennamma Kannu, Maha Nadigan and Englishkaran.

[29][30] Other Films in the 2000s with Sathyaraj in the lead role that fared well at the box office were 6'2, Vanakkam Thalaiva, Kurukshetram, Adavadi, Periyar and Thangam.

[31] In the early 2010's, he accepted supporting roles in films such as Aagathan, Guru Sishyan, Aayiram Vilakku, Uchithanai Muharnthaal, Nanban, Thalaivaa and Raja Rani.

In 2015, at the age of 60, the media and public at large rechristened him as Kattappa, as he received nationwide popularity for his role in India's biggest motion picture Baahubali: The Beginning.

Since the time he made his debut as junior artiste at 24 years of age, he had been wanting to do a historical or a folklore film and it was his long cherished dream.

A faithful remake of much acclaimed Malayalam movie, Shutter has been helmed by editor turned director, Antony with great integrity.

[38] He played the role of DC Ratnavel "Randy", a Police officer in the film Mersal (2017) directed by Atlee.

[42] In 2022, he had nine releases with notably Etharkkum Thunindhavan, Veetla Vishesham and Love Today which received positive reviews.

[51] In 1979, Sathyaraj married Maheswari, niece of producer Madhampatti Sivakumar, and had two children, daughter Divya and son Sibiraj, also an actor.

[54] Sathyaraj and Manivannan shared a close friendship since college and became frequent collaborators in films in Tamil cinema.