Sathyaraj is one of the rare actors who added the flavor of satire and sarcasm to Tamil cinema. He is also on of those rare heroes who was equally good in comedy, romance, action and sentiments as an actor. He started his journey as a villain actor, turned as a hero and remained at the top for many years and has gradually become a refined character artiste and proved to be an actor of substance.

Such a fantastic actor Sathyaraj celebrates his 61st birthday today (October 3, 2015). He debuted acting as the sidekick of a villain in Kamal Haasan starrer 'Sattam En Kayyil' and continued with such roles for a few years. He graduated as main villain with Kamal Haasan's 'Vikram'. His villainy acting was commendable in films like 'Mr.Bharath' with Superstar Rajinikanth and 'Kakki Sattai' with Kamal Haasan. After M.R.Radha, Sathyaraj is the only villain actor whose dialogues scuh as 'Thagadu Thagadu' and 'En character aye purijikka maatreengale' became so famous among movie buffs.

Sathyaraj slowly graduated to lead hero roles and proved his talent which impressed Kamal Haasan that he produced the film 'Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupadu' with Sathyaraj playing the lead role of an eccentric and upright cop.

After becoming a hero Sathyaraj gradually made it to the top league in the early and mid 1990s. It is in this period 'Amaidhipadai' directed by Manivannan released. Sathyaraj played the roles of a wicked politician father and a valorous cop son and excelled in both the characters and the film is regarded as Sathyaraj's master piece till date.

Sathyaraj carved niche for himself with action films like 'Airport', 'Bramma', 'Walter Vetrivel' while his comic sense came to fore in films like 'Chinna Thambi Periya Thambi' and 'Nadigan', If his portrayal of emotional characters was brilliant in films like 'Poovizhi Vasalile', 'Bommukutty Ammavukku' etc he also had a good share of romance films like 'Kadalora Kavidhaigal' and 'Annanagar Mudhal Theru',

While being a actor of mainstream commercial films Sathyaraj is also known for his rational and revolutionary thoughts. He acted in revolutionary characters in films like 'Vedham Pudhidhu', 'Thozhar Pandiyan', 'Kadavul', 'Aandan Adimai' etc. He has also expressed his views on political issues affecting Tamils onscreen and off screen. He is a staunch follower of rationalist leader Periyar and acted in the latter's biopic without receiving a penny

Sathyaraj remained as bankable hero till the end of last decade and he has been acting in low budget films like 'Adi Thadi' 'Maha Nadigan', 'Englishkaran' which were successful at the box office.

In the recent years Sathyaraj has emerged as a refined character artiste and his portrayal of Nayantahra's friendly father in the super hit romance film 'Raja Rani' could be considered as one of his towering performances.

In these years Sathyaraj has also become a highly noted character artiste in Telugu and Mayalam film industries. He acted as Deepika Padukone's father in Bollywood blockbuster 'Chennai Express' which had Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role.

In 2015 Sathyaraj saw the release of what may be termed as the grandest film in his career. He acted in the memorable role of Kattappa, a loyal war-commander of the Mahishmathi kingdom in India's biggest ever blockbuster 'Baahubali' directed by S.S.Rajamouli and his role is definitely the one to look out for in the sequel of the historic fantasy which is currently in making.

Apart from this the list of films in Sathyaraj's kitty include 'Night Show' the remake of Malayalam super hit thriller 'Shutter' in which he plays the lead role. He is also acting in important character roles as Udhayanidhi's father in 'Gethu', as a ghost for the first time in his decades long acting career in 'Jackson Durai' and in undisclosed roles in Ilayathalapathi Vijay's 59th film directed by Atlee and Tollywood superstar Mahesh Babu's Telugu-Tamil bilingual film 'Brahmotsavam'. This list would make the coming years more interesting and rewarding for Sathyaraj and also the movie buffs.

Indiaglitz wishes Sathyaraj a very Happy Birthday and lot more successes and accolades in the coming years.