When one calls Tamil actor Soori a ‘fan-boy’, the inferred meaning is very different from what you’d expect from an industry in which contemporary actors model their careers around the stardom of MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth or Kamal Haasan.
Before Soori became one of Tamil cinema’s most valuable comedic sidekicks, and long before he moulded himself into a legit star with an assured market, he worked as a actual “fan boy” on the sets of Rajinikanth’s Padayappa (1999)... operating the portable fans all around.
The actor revealed this information to the film’s director, K. S Ravikumar, in an interview, and said it was his job to work on the electrical department of the film’s set, which quite naturally included ensuring the portable fans for the stars worked perfectly.
Now, almost 30 years since the release of Padayappa, Soori has amassed an army of legit fanboys of his own. In a clip that went viral, we saw Soori admonishing these fans for going overboard with their acts of love for him. During the release of his previous hit Maaman, a group of his fans ate mud as a form of offering at a temple in Madurai to ensure the film’s success. Disappointed at the excess, he called their act extremely foolish, remarking, “If a film does well, it’s because it’s well-written or well-made, and not because someone ate mud!”
These excesses aside, the personal connection a fan feels for Soori isn’t ordinary. Akin to Rajinikanth’s success — where he went from being a bus conductor to the country’s top star — this also feels personal to his fans, as they feel an ownership over Soori's fame.
Soori has acted in six films in the lead role, of which Viduthalai Part 1 (2023), Garudan (2024), and Maaman (2025) went on to become superhits. The one that perhaps missed out on this streak was the critically-acclaimed Kottukkaali (2024), made by PS Vinothraj, whose previous film Pebbles was India’s official entry to the Oscars.
His most recent film Mandaadi is a sports drama set in a rustic coastal backdrop that has gone on to collect ₹100 crore in a week, turning out to be the fourth highest-grossing Tamil film of the year so far.
From Comedian To Lead Hero
But Mandaadi’s story of an epic second coming pales in comparison to Soori’s own journey.
Technically, he made his acting debut in 1999. But until he was first noted for a role in 2009, his credits in the films before this read thus: ‘audience member’, ‘crowd member’, ‘railway porter’, ‘man in temple’, ‘illicit liquor smuggler’, ‘thief’, ‘henchman’, ‘mansion mate’ and ‘thief’ again.
With the release of Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu (2009), a hit drama kabaddi sports drama, Soori got to play the loveable Subramani. The virality of one of his scenes (Subramani devours 50 parottas in a now iconic comedy track) was so much bigger than the film itself that he soon came to be known as ‘Parotta' Soori.
The Making Of 'Parotta' Soori
“From there on, there was a period longer than a decade during which the audience would begin to laugh at the sight of Soori on screen,” says Maaman director Prasanth Pandiyaraj in a conversation with THR India. Not only was Soori the lead in Prasanth's film, but he also co-wrote Maaman. Prasanth adds, “He’s been working in films since the time I was born, but you can see that he’s always been observing and learning. Not only are his instincts about scripts very astute, but he knows everything that goes on a film’s set."
Prasanth also points out that Soori had seen Maaman more than 100 times during various stages of post-production, an effort no lead actor is expected to make in Tamil cinema. “He knows his strengths, and he knows that his instincts are very strong when it comes to rural subjects set in the smaller towns and villages of Tamil Nadu. He wants to create strong films that appeal to these markets and then move on to stories that are set in big cities,” he says.
Cracking the 'C' Centres of Tamil Cinema
This could be the reason why Mandaadi has gone on to do extremely well in the theatres in Tamil Nadu’s ‘C’ centres, comprising tier 3 towns and villages. The film’s producer Elred Kumar, who had also produced Soori’s Viduthalai, directed by Vetri Maaran, is ecstatic at how Soori has been able to penetrate a difficult market.
He tells THR India that the film’s collections on the sixth day are far more than what the film collected on day one. “It’s the first time a movie of mine has swept the ‘C’ centre. I feel it’s time to call him a superstar, even though the industry is reluctant to give him the title so quickly. But if you ask the people... he is already a star to them.”
Kumar takes us back to the decade when Soori's mere presence on-screen resulted in laughter; he compares that image to his newly cultivated aura now. “Soori wasn’t your regular comedian, built on counters or wisecracks. He was a physical comedian who relied on loud performances and cranky characters. No one would have imagined him to eventually move with a hero’s body language. But today, it’s impossible to find traces of that old comedian in him.”
Tiruppur Subramaniam, a distributor and theatre owner based out of the south of Tamil Nadu, says Soori’s stardom is one that’s developing organically and ‘silently’. “His stardom is not the kind that’s getting talked about enough, nor is there a deliberate push to prop him up. But the results are very clear, especially when you see how well Mandaadi is doing. Stars tend to focus on B and C centres as an additional market. But Soori seems to have cracked that first,” he tells THR India.
For Kumar, it all changed on day one of Viduthalai, a film he admittedly signed on to do because it was being directed by Vetri Maaran. “It would be unfair to say that this was entirely Soori’s design and that he had been plotting to become a hero in due time. The first part of Viduthalai was led by Soori, and it was made at a cost of ₹50 crore. But when it went on to generate a profit despite this budget, it became obvious that it had a certain pull."
Beyond collections, it was a pivotal moment from the film that revealed that Soori's presence was the pull. Kumar recalls the powerful shot in the climax when Soori finally picks up the rifle. "During the film's first show, the audiences’ whistles were so loud that you couldn’t hear anything... it’s the kind of moment where a hero is born.”
When The Comedian Became The Hero
Soori hasn’t looked at himself as just a character actor since then. Insiders feel he is capable of pulling off high-voltage mass sequences in a transition that actors take decades to pull off. “I’m producing another film starring him and the budget for that is even bigger. It is emotionally rich, but beyond all that you will see a new side to him in which he will be doing comedy, but the joke is not at his expense,” says Kumar.
It may look like there’s a method that has gone behind his stardom today, but Soori insists that it has taken close to thirty years for him to get this far. At 49, he may be one of India’s oldest actors to reach this level of bankability as a lead star, but for Soori, it’s all about holding on to one’s dreams.
“My first salary from a movie set was just ₹50," the actor tells THR India in a brief interaction.
"Today, if Mandaadi is grossing ₹100 crores, it proves one thing: where you begin does not decide how far one can go. Life may throw delays at you, but it cannot defeat you unless you give up. Keep learning, keep working and keep believing in yourself even when nobody else does, because that ₹50 opportunity may one day become a ₹100 crore journey," he smiles.