Soundararaja
சௌந்தரராஜா
Born	(1983-08-11) August 11, 1983 Usilampatti, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality	Indian
Citizenship	Indian
Occupations	Engineer Actor Producer Social Activist
Years active	2008–present
Known for	Sundarapandian
Spouse	Tamanna Soundararaja

Soundararaja is an Indian actor and producer who appears in Tamil films. He mainly plays supporting and antagonistic roles. His notable performances include Sundarapandian (2012), Jigarthanda (2014), and Dharma Durai (2016). He made his debut as a hero in Enakku Veru Engum Kilaigal Kidayathu (2016), which was a reasonable hit in his career.

Early life

Soundararaja was born in Usilampatti, Madurai District. He finished schooling and college in his native place and moved to Chennai. According to Soundararaja, like Vijay Sethupathi, he was a "below-average student right from school" and was "interested in neither sports nor extra-curricular activities".

Soundararaja did a series of odd jobs, which included a retail store salesman and a promoter, for pocket money. In 2004, he graduated with a B.E degree from Bharath Niketan College of Engineering affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University. He joined as a project engineer in Invensys India Pvt. Ltd., deputed to Singapore in 2005 after 2006 he moved Technip France US-based company from there he deputed to Qatar in 2007.

He returned to India in 2008. Afterwards, he started a new film production company called Madurai Touring Talkies with his childhood friend, director M. Manikandan, and he also invested some money in share market business with friends, he joined the Koothu-P-Pattarai acting drama school in 2010. He and his friends, Manikandan and director Karthik Subbaraj, produced many short films under his banners (Madurai Touring Talkies) – Thuru, Raavanm, Petticase, Wind, Aram, etc. with his friends' support.

Film career

Soundararaja subsequently joined the Chennai-based theatre group Koothu-P-Pattarai as an accountant and actor where he observed actors.^[1][2] He made his beginnings as a background actor, particularly playing the role of the lead character's friend in a few films, including the well-known series Penn that began in August 2008,^[3] as well as several short films as part of the television show Nalaya Iyakunar for Kalaignar TV. He worked on many short films with Manikandan and Karthik Subbaraj, who later cast him in his first feature film.

Soundararaja who went to director Lingusamy's studio to audition for his film Vettai (2011) and was selected to play Arya's friend in the film, which marked Soundararaja's film debut. Following Vettai, he worked on the film Pattarai; however, the film did not see a theatrical release. After making an appearance in S. R. Prabhakaran's Sundarapandian (2012) in a negative role,^[4] he was cast by director Ponram a minor supporting role in Ponram's first project, Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam (2013). Soundararaja would later credit Prabhakaran with having had an "important role in helping him realise his dreams". Prabhakaran, furthermore, guided Soundararaja to many tips.

Then, Karthik Subbaraj got Soundararaja his second negative role in Jigarthanda (2013), in which he portrayed a shepherd.^[5] After Jigarthanda's release, he acted in Poojai (2014)^[6] and Bharathan's Athithi (2014).^[7][8]

Soundararaja made his debut as a hero in Enakku Veru Engum Kilaigal Kidayathu (2016), in which he acted alongside Goundamani.

Activism

Soundararaja is a nature lover. In 2017, he started Mannukkum Makkalukkum Social Welfare Trust with his friends and family. Along with the people of the trust, he planted more than 25,000 plants all over Tamil Nadu.

Soundararaja had participated in many key social affairs across Tamil Nadu. The most mentionable was his involvement in 2017 pro-jallikattu protests. He was one of the representatives of the Jallikattu support team, who had interacted with the Government of Tamil Nadu regarding the protests.^[9][10][11]

Filmography

Short film project

• Thuru (2010)
• Ravanam (2010)
• Petticase (2010)
• Wind (2011)
• Aram (2012)

References