Suriya, in a new interview, recalled how his family’s financial struggles led him to join showbiz.
Suriya’s name might feature amongst the top-most actors in the Tamil film industry, but the actor had his own share of struggles to get the stardom and popularity that he enjoys today. In a recent interaction, the Tamil star recalled the time when he worked as a trainee intern in garment industry for a salary of Rs 750 rupees for 15 days, which later became 1,200 rupees monthly.
In a Masterclass session with Pinkvilla, Suriya said, “I started off with that and worked for about two and a half to three years in the garment industry, eventually earning 8,000 rupees.”
Speaking about how ‘life can change anytime’, the ‘Ghajini’ star went on to narrate how his mother confided in him while giving him breakfast that she had taken a loan of Rs 25000 which his father wasn’t aware about.
He continued, “I was surprised to hear this, considering my dad is an actor and we were dealing with financial issues like this. Mom said that our bank balance had never been more than one lakh or one and a half lakh, and Dad never insisted on his salary; he would just wait for it to come when it did. At that time, Dad hadn’t worked continuously for more than six months or ten months, and it made me realize what I was doing.”
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Suriya shared that he initially aspired to start his own company and was hoping that his father would invest one crore in capital after he gained enough experience. However, his life took an unexpected turn when Mani Ratnam offered him a film that he was producing.
The ‘Soorarai Pottru[ actor said, “Mani Ratnam was producing a film, and they repeatedly asked for me. Of course, being an actor’s son, I kept receiving these offers, but I never thought I’d be in the film industry; I never wanted to face the camera and never dreamt of becoming an actor.”
“I came into the industry for the 25,000 rupees to give back to my mom and say, “Your loan is over, and you don’t have to worry. It’s been five or six months; you don’t have to tell Dad, but this money will come, and you can close the loan.” That’s how I started my career, and that’s how I became Suriya,” the actor said in his interview.
On the work front, Suriya is currently busy with the promotions of his upcoming fantasy action film Kanguva.