Selvaraj Justin Pandian , who is known by his stage name S. J. Suryah, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and music director who has works predominantly in Tamil cinema.

 After completing his schooling near his birthplace in Vasudevanallur near Puliangudi in South Tamil Nadu, Suryah moved to Chennai to complete a Physics degree at Loyola College. Despite getting an opportunity to pursue further studies at an engineering college in Madurai, he declined the offer and stayed in Chennai, with the hope of finding a breakthrough as an actor in Tamil films. To be financially self-dependent, he began working in hotels and as a steward, before receiving an offer to apprentice under K. Bhagyaraj. He subsequently worked as an assistant director in the teams of Aasai (1995) under Director Vasanth and Sundara Purushan (1996) under Director Sabapathy, while also being seen in uncredited appearances as an actor, notably as a cock fighter in Bharathiraja's Kizhakku Cheemayile (1993).

Image: Screenshot of a scene from the movie, Kizhakku Cheemaiyile(1993)

While working in the team of Ullaasam (1997), SJ Suryah got an opportunity to narrate his script to the lead actor, Ajithkumar. The narration impressed the actor and led the team to began work on Vaali (1999) in late 1997 with Simran as the female lead while Suryah also chose to introduce Jyothika in the film. Upon release of the film, both Ajithkumar and SJ Suryah were very applauded for their performances and the uniqueness in the storytelling respectively and the film's commercial success became an important career breakthrough to both of the them. As a result, SJ Suryah received a call from producer A.M.Rathnam to do a movie with Thalapathy Vijay and thus Kushi, rom-com materialised. The film opened to positive reviews from critics in May 2000 and also went on to achieve box office success. The movie also remade again in Telugu while Pawan Kalyan playing the role of Vijay under the same title in 2001 and it was critically acclaimed in Telugu states as well.

He made his acting debut with New and went on to act in films like Anbe Aaruyire (2005), Kalvanin Kadhali (2006), Thirumagan (2007), Vyabari (2007). With Isai (2015), he also made his debut as music composer of the film. SJ Suryah's career as an actor made a breakthrough with the film, Iraivi (2016) which was directed by Karthik Subbaraj. His performance as an alcoholic and abusive director fetched highly positive reviews from both critics and audiences, for which he was nominated for national award. Later, he went to sign two big films, Spyder and Mersal  in 2017 as the antagonist playing opposite Mahesh Babu and Thalapathy Vijay respectively. Suryah's performance in Spyder was widely appreciated for his versatility in the negative role. SJ Suryah ventured in the film, Monster (2019) which he played as the protagonist after a long gap under Director Nelson Venkatesan. Once again, Suryah's performance was critically praised.

S. J. Suryah completely steals the show as the lecherous businessman with a deadly performance in the film, Nenjam Marapathillai directed by Directer Selvaraghavan. Undeniably, Ramsay is one of the finest yet entertaining characters of S. J. Suryah. His next venture alongside Silambarasan was the Venkat Prabhu-directed Maanaadu (2021) in which played the role of a corrupt cop, his antagonistic role for the third time.This film received highly positive reviews and Suryah's performance was praised. He was seen in Don starring Sivakarthikeyan, essaying the role of an antagonist for the fourth time. In his most recent cinematic endeavor, Mark Antony(2023), he garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of dual characters that are father and son, Jackie Pandian and Madan Pandian, expertly showcasing a distinctive contrast in their villainous personas through a uniquely whimsical approach. SJ Suryah made his contribution as one of the leads in Jigarthanda Double X with Raghava Lawrence under the Karthik Subbaraj's direction, also marks their second collaboration. SJ Suryah was again applauded for his performance but for more subtle and emotional approach for the character, Ray Daasan throughout the movie.

@raaga_malaysia You will become a good actor when you start believing there’s one within yourself- #NadippuArakkan #SJSuryah ❤️ Throwback to the day when our #ArtistOfTheMonth made his presence to RAAGA 💥 #RAAGAshares #RAAGARecap #RAAGA ♬ original sound - Raaga

SJ Suryah is Our Artist Of The Month! Join us as we celebrate him throughout the month of December!