Following award-winning performances of a conman in Pithamagan (2003) and a hunchback in Perazhagan (2004), he played a man suffering from anterograde amnesia in the 2005 blockbuster Ghajini.

He rose to stardom with dual roles of a father and son in Gautham Vasudev Menon's semi-autobiographical Vaaranam Aayiram (2008).

The year 2012 marked his debut as a television presenter with the Star Vijay game show Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi, the Tamil version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.

[11][12] Suriya was born as Saravanan on 23 July 1975 in Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, to actor Sivakumar and his wife Lakshmi.

Suriya confessed that he struggled due to lack of confidence, memory power, fighting or dancing skills in his early career, but it was actor Raghuvaran, one of his mentors, who advised him to create his own identity, rather than stay under his father's shadow.

[4] The film emerged as Suriya's first major blockbuster at the box office and earned him his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.

His portrayal of a happy-go-lucky village crook with a comic touch in Bala's Pithamagan, co-starring Vikram, won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Tamil.

[23] The film emerged as a commercial success at the box office,[24] and Suriya won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for his performance.

[25] The same year, he portrayed the role of a student leader in Mani Ratnam's political drama Aayutha Ezhuthu along with Madhavan and Siddarth.

[35] He lost weight and prepared a six pack for the film through an eight-month fitness regime without steroids, with the move being a trend-setter for other leading actors from South India.

With Suriya portraying the role of a smuggler, the film also featured Prabhu as his guardian and Tamannaah Bhatia as the lead actress.

[45][46] His next film, K. S. Ravikumar's action entertainer Aadhavan also achieved commercial success, while Suriya's depiction of a hitman was praised.

A critic from Sify.com labelled it as an "out and out Suriya show", stating that "the film rides on the magic of the actor, and his zany shenanigans alone makes it worth a watch" and Rediff.com cited that "he sings, dances, and fights with absolute sincerity, but when he looks at you with tears in his eyes in an emotional scene tailor-made for him, the applause hits the roof", concluding that it is "completely his film".

[47][48] In 2010, he starred in his 25th release, Singam directed by Hari, in which he played the role of a police officer from a small village going to work in the city.

Suriya played dual roles and starred alongside Shruti Haasan in the film, as a circus artist and as the Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma, who lived in the 6th century.

[57] Critics however praised the film's technical aspects and VFX, in addition to Suriya's performance, which earned him his tenth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.

[59] In January 2012, Suriya was named as the official host of the new game show to be presented on STAR Vijay, Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi, the Tamil version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.

[64] In a 2013 interview with the Bangalore Mirror, film producer G. Dhananjayan called Suriya as the "biggest star" in contemporary Tamil cinema and claimed it was mainly because his popularity extended to Telugu and Malayalam speaking audiences as well.

His only release in 2018 was Thaana Serndha Kootam directed by Vignesh Shivan and produced by Studio Green with music done by Anirudh Ravichander.

The profits earned from the project were donated to the members of the Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI), who were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suriya's next film Etharkkum Thunindhavan, also known under the initialism ET, directed by Pandiraj and produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures released in theatres on 10 March 2022 to mixed reviews.

[87] Following that film, he appeared in a cameo as Rolex in Lokesh Kanagaraj's Vikram starring Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil.

The same year, Suriya became the first South Indian actor to be invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

[98][99] In 2019, Suriya criticised the union government's Draft National Education Policy (NEP), claiming that several of its features would affect students from rural areas.

[100][101] Suriya issued a statement on National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in September 2020 after three students committed suicide.

He compared NEET to "manuneethi" and a tale in the Mahabharata in which Drona demanded Ekalavya's thumb as payment for training, going on to suggest that "the skills and abilities of our children should not be determined by one test".

Although the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other right-wing organisations condemned them, they garnered widespread support from people advocating equality in access to healthcare and education.

Suriya revealed that he was inspired to begin the movement as a result of his father's own organisation, Sivakumar Educational Trust, which had been operating similar benefits on a smaller scale since the 1980s.

Agaram sponsored 159 underprivileged students in 2010 for their higher education in various disciplines, and has continued to provide free seats and accommodation for pupils.

[119] A research study conducted in 2023 by Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) stated that Suriya was the highest-ranked celebrity in South India.