Vellai Subbaiah was an Indian actor who appeared in over than 1500 films and theatrical productions.

Subbaiah was born in Punjai Puliampatti village, Coimbatore in 1937 but ran away from home at a young age to pursue his interest in acting.

[2] Later, Subbaiah travelled to Madras to pursue a career in cinema.

His role was an uncredited appearance in the hugely successful drama Pasamalar.

His first major role was as a student in the 1970 film Maanavan.