Exclusive | Suriya Praises Jyotika's Acting: 'She Can Emote in Languages Outside her Mother Tongue; I Struggle'

20 years into their marriage, Suriya maintains that Jyotika is a better actor than him, and points to her ability to access real emotion on demand.

Speaking to THR India in a joint interview for our August cover, the actor describes the two of them as fundamentally different in how they approach a performance, and why he places her approach above his own.

"I might do a lot of layering... first take, second take, and then I add something, implant something," he says. "A lot of things happen. I go back to my memory, past experiences, and try to use that to be in that mode."

Jyotika, he explains, does not need any of that. "She can be immediately in that (necessary) mode."

While the couple have not collaborated on any projects since their marriage, Suriya elaborates on his point with an anecdote from the COVID-19 lockdown days. "During the pandemic, her (Jyotika's) brother gave us a page of dialogue for a screen test at home; no crew, just a mobile camera."

He gushed about how Jyotika could immediately bring out authentic emotions for the scene, and how it caught him off-guard. "She brought real tears to the scene in one take. I remember thinking, ‘I’m not ready for this...'"

The actor also speaks about the specific challenge of working in a language that is not one's mother tongue and still being able to access genuine emotion on screen.

Suriya confesses that while he personally finds emoting difficult when he has had opportunities to do Hindi films, Jyotika has aced it across languages. "She’s multitasking; talking in another language which is not her mother tongue, and still able to bring true emotions in front of the camera."

Commenting on Jyotika's acting skills, Suriya says it is noticeable when an actor is in the moment and when they seem detached.

He notes how Jyotika's intensity is evident in her performance and the way her real-life sensitivity shines through. "You sense it when the actor is in focus and not in focus during a take. For her, I see that intensity. It is very strong. She’s always been a very sensitive person also in real life, so she can be in that mood, and she can totally surrender to that moment."

Jyotika's most recent performance was in System (2026), a streaming series in which she plays a court stenographer set on revenge. Meanwhile, Suriya's most recent release was Karuppu, which collected ₹300 crore globally.

Watch the full interview with Suriya and Jyotika on The Hollywood Reporter India’s YouTube channel.