The problem with becoming a pan-Indian name in your 35th year as an actor is that the new set of audience might not really know of your stellar body of work. It gets even tougher to understand the legacy if the two films that made you a pan-Indian star is a little movie known in select circles as Baahubali. Such has been the impact of the SS Rajamouli film in the life of actor Sathyaraj that more people outside his state of Tamil Nadu know him as Kattappa and not by his own name. The franchise overshadowed everything in his career, including his starring role in Shah Rukh Khan’s Chennai Express just a couple of years earlier to the release of Baahubali. But before he was Kattappa in Baahubali 1, before he was Durgeshwara Azhagusundaram in Chennai Express, and before he was Kattappa again in Baahubali 2, Sathyaraj was a bonafide superstar in Tamil. His rise to stardom was anything but simple.
It took him eight years from his debut in Sattam En Kaiyil (1978) to get Kadalora Kavithaigal (1986), his first break as a lead actor. Between these two films, Sathyaraj starred in almost 70 films where he graduated from being a glorified henchman to the secondary antagonist to the primary antagonist to a supporting character, and a good-natured supporting actor in Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada, before finally taking the ‘Hero’ route for the next 20-odd years.
So, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, let’s look at ten characters essayed by Sathyaraj that best showcase his versatility, and proves to his newer audience that he was definitely a terrific Kattappa, but he has always been one of Tamil cinema’s most maverick superstars.
24 Mani Neram (1984)
Sathyaraj in 24 Mani Neram
Sathyaraj often played a brilliant villain. His towering stature often lent a lot of gravitas to his evil side, and his physical fitness often resulted in a sense of tension because we knew the heroes wouldn’t have it easy. In this film by his long-time collaborator Manivannan, which also starred Mohan and Nalini, Sathyaraj played a conniving billionaire, XW Ramarathinam. He was a sexual abuser who derived pleasure from the power games he played with the women and their families. It was a truly evil character with no redemptive arc, and Sathyaraj is immensely effective in the role. He adds to it a sense of macabre humour that makes his actions even more vile and despicable. That was one thing about Sathyaraj. He never shied away from doing what the role demanded him to.
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Vikram (1986)
This was one of his last films as a villain. By now, he was acting in films as a hero, and he was in the last leg of his villain track. But he bowed out gloriously with films like Vikram and Mr Bharath. While the latter, which was a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Trishul, starred Sathyaraj in the role essayed by Sanjeev Kumar, it wasn’t an outright villain role. Mr Bharath was more a relationship saga. However, in Vikram, Sathyaraj played the evil mastermind Sugirtharaj who had world domination as one of the top activities in his to-do list. It was a campy role in a campier film, and Sathyaraj revelled in the film playing a Bond villain of sorts. He flew in private aircrafts, built an underground rocket station in a lawless country, and sported a monocle like it was nobody’s business.
Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu (1987)
Every actor who wants to be a star has to play an action hero. If this case is true even now, imagine the 80s. And what better way to play the action hero than playing a cop, which automatically allows the space to have well-orchestrated stunt sequences where the hero has to come up trumps. But it is interesting how Sathyaraj played a different kind of cop in one of his earliest films as a hero. Backed by Kamal Haasan, Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu, was the remake of the Malayalam blockbuster Aavanazhi, directed by IV Sasi and starring Mammootty. As Inspector Balaram, Sathyaraj established his acting credentials in a cop film. In fact, it could be called the Zanjeer of his career, because this no-nonsense turn lended his career the legs it needed to swim past the tide that was turning.
Vedham Pudhidhu (1987)
One interesting aspect of Sathyaraj of the 80s was that even after turning a hero, he didn’t shy away from starring in dual hero subjects or playing pivotal roles in films featuring younger actors. In fact, such an open mind was the reason that he starred in legendary filmmaker Bharathiraja’s socio-political drama, Vedham Pudhidhu. Some might say he isn’t the ‘lead’, but it is his presence that is the consciousness of the film. Through this powerful drama, Sathyaraj established the fact that he would always place the actor in him at the centre of whatever he does. And in many ways, he stuck to this formula that was the reason his career is still thriving even when many of his contemporaries dropped out of the race.
Anna Nagar Mudhal Theru (1988)
After remaking a Mammootty film to establish his ‘serious actor’ credentials, it made sense that a Mohanlal film helped him become a ‘dramatic actor with a flair for comedy’. In Anna Nagar Mudhal Theru, a remake of Priyadarshan’s Gandhi Nagar Second Street, Sathyaraj played an unemployed youth who is forced to double up as a night watchman of a colony. It allowed him to display his comic timing, which would become a hallmark of his career. It also allowed him to be vulnerable and also further his versatility as a romantic star. His ascension into the top-tier of Tamil stars didn’t happen overnight. It was through smart choices, and gradual development of skills that made him into an all-important chapter in Tamil cinema history.
Nadigan (1990)
Sathyaraj in Nadigan.
After establishing himself as an action star with a flair for relationship drama in multiple films throughout the late 80s and early 90s, Sathyaraj needed a major fillip to his career. Of course, his comic timing, and his collaboration with veteran comedian Goundamani was stuff of legend. But there needs to be that one film that stands apart, right? One movie where everything falls into place, and the comedy timing is off the charts, and it stands the test of time to become one of the all-time greats. That film was P Vasu’s Nadigan (a remake of 1962 Hindi film, Professor), and Sathyaraj ensured he had an out-and-out comedy that was both critically and commercially acclaimed.
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Walter Vetrivel (1993)
In fact, Sathyaraj was one of those stars who felt so at home in a cop’s uniform that it became the gold standard for comparison among his contemporaries. While he had played a no-nonsense cop earlier, and a fun cop in a few other films in the interim, Walter Vetrivel was an important addition to his filmography. In the titular role, Sathyaraj could also showcase his serious side after three years of dabbling in a bunch of roles that relied heavily on his comic flair. With Walter Vetrivel, he was resetting the timeline, and he used his Nadigan director to change the tide. This also established him as a conscientious actor, who would take up roles that questioned morality and made the audience understand that in the fight between right and wrong, justice always triumphs.
Airport (1993)
By now, Sathyaraj had played a myriad of roles. However, he was getting increasingly typecast in roles that were best suited for rural dramas. Most of his characters were based in a town or a village, and even if they offered him the chance to be serious, funny, and sensitive, they were never ‘urban’ characters. Of course, there were a few stray films here and there that gave him that space, but Sathyaraj continued to play iterations of roles that required him to be either rugged or naive. Somehow, he wasn’t given roles that used his talents to be suave and stylish. Of course, there was Jeeva in the late 80s, but since then, it came far and few in between. That changed with Joshiy’s Airport. He played a pilot, and it automatically meant, Sathyaraj was dressed up in immaculate uniform sporting aviators and spouting English dialogues with relative ease. The film also brought in a whole nationalistic angle, and gave him a gritty thriller that was set in some of the most urban locales of India. And the best part… Sathyaraj passed it with flying colours.
Amaidhi Padai (1994)
In every actor’s life there is one film that will always define their career. Even if they had starred in 100s of films, if you go around asking people what is the ONE film they would always connect with their favourite actor, more often than not, there would be a straight answer that is uttered by the majority. For Sathyaraj, that film is Amaidhi Padai. In this politically charged film that also is satirical in its core, Sathyaraj plays a unscrupulous politician who doesn’t mind conspiring, cheating, and murdering his way to the top, and staying there. It is a brilliantly layered role that best exemplified Sathyaraj’s knack for sarcasm and wit. Such was the success of the movie that the actor has since been always associated with levity laced in sarcasm.
Periyar (2007)
Sathyaraj in Periyar
If Amaidhi Padai was a seminal film in Sathyaraj’s career, Periyar might be the closest film to his heart. It made perfect sense that director Gnana Rajasekaran chose Sathyaraj, a staunch Periyarist, to immortalise one of the biggest icons of Indian history. The actor embodied his idol to deliver a performance that he can be extremely proud of. Very few actors in the world get to play a role so close to their heart, and Sathyaraj ensured he aced it in every step of the way. Tamil cinema has a way of immortalising actors playing icons of history. It was surreal that after the legendary Sivaji Ganesan, who embodied the roles of Veerapandiya Kattabomman, VO Chidambara Pillai, Raja Raja Chozhan, and many more in his stellar career, it was Sathyaraj who had the opportunity to truly become a character important to Tamil sentiments. And he did.
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