Suriya and his first negative role in 'Nandha'; Here is everything you need to know

Saravanan Sivakumar, popularly known as Suriya, got his first breakthrough in the year 2001 with his titular character in Nandha. He had played a negative role in this movie quite early on in his career, which opened many other opportunities for him as he rfeceived critical acclaim for his performance in the film. Although this film was commercially not as successful as quite a few of other Suriya’s films, this movie marked the first time that the actor had played a negative role. Read all about Nandha movie trivia.

Nandha- The first negative role of Suriya

Nearly two decades after its release, this film is still regarded as the breakthrough film for Suriya in which the audiences got to witness the actor portraying a negative character for the very first time. But an interesting Nandha movie trivia is that the titular role was previously offered to Ajith Kumar, according to Cinema Express. However, Ajith rejected the film stating that the story and the screenplay was not fully developed by Bala, the writer and director of the movie. Incidentally, Suriya, who had replaced Ajith Kumar in Nandha, had also replaced Ajith in his debut film Nerrukku Ner. In fact, Suriya has replaced Ajith Kumar in Ghajini and Aaru as well.

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Another interesting fact of Nandha is that its production was delayed because Suriya had to undergo a physical change for this role. This movie also happened to be the debut of comedian Karunas. Suriya has stated that this film made him into a serious actor and everything changed for him after Nandha. The actor also credited director Bala in helping him build discipline and overcoming errors. Bala has also revealed that Laila was her first and only choice to play the character of Kalyani, the Sri Lankan refugee.

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Nandha was the first one of Suriya’s films that revealed him to be an actor with potential, after essentially portraying a negative role that early in his career. He was last seen in Soorarai Pottru which was based on the life of  Air Deccan founder Captain G. R. Gopinath. Nandha movie, however, continues to remain one of the most memorable performances among the long list of Suriya’s films. 

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