Suraj Venjaramoodu on his dream of meeting Rajinikanth and the moment that moved him to tears

There was a time when Suraj Venjaramoodu would stay back at temple grounds in Kerala, long after his mimicry performances, just to listen to a singer impersonate his favourite superstar, Rajinikanth.
Mohanachandran, a member of Thiruvananthapuram Sagara’s orchestra troupe, was known for his renditions of Rajinikanth songs. When he performed, it was almost as if the superstar himself had walked onto the stage to dance. Suraj, whose mimicry shows often preceded the orchestra’s performances, would wait until Mohanachandran finished singing before heading home. His admiration for the singer was matched by his fascination with Rajinikanth.

Back then, meeting the superstar in person seemed like a distant dream. Years later, Suraj found himself sharing screen space with the very actor he had idolised, playing a formidable antagonist who dares to challenge Tiger Muthuvel Pandian in Nelson Dilipkumar’s ‘Jailer 2’.

As the film generates buzz across the country, the Malayalam actor has plenty of reasons to cherish the experience, particularly an unexpected gesture from Rajinikanth that he describes as being worth more than an Oscar.

Suraj was thrilled when he first watched ‘Jailer’, which featured Rajinikanth alongside Mohanlal and Vinayakan. When news of the sequel emerged, he eagerly awaited its release. He had little idea that he would soon be part of the franchise himself.

The opportunity came through director S U Arun Kumar, whom Suraj had worked with in ‘Veera Dheera Sooran’. When Arun Kumar called him, Suraj assumed he was being considered for another project. Instead, the director revealed that Nelson had asked him about Suraj.

“Nelson asked me about you, and I may have exaggerated a few things while recommending you,” Arun Kumar told him.

Suraj found the revelation amusing but struggled to believe it at first. Arun Kumar assured him that someone from production house Sun Pictures would contact him. The production team subsequently approached him with the offer. However, it was only after hearing the story from Nelson that Suraj understood the significance of his character.

Working with Nelson was another highlight. Suraj says he has enjoyed all the filmmaker’s movies, beginning with ‘Kolamaavu Kokila’, and admires his ability to introduce humour into tense situations. Nelson’s use of black comedy, including in action sequences, particularly appeals to him.

However, the shoot came with an unexpected challenge: the dialogues.

Although Suraj has acted in several Tamil films, the language remains a slight hurdle. He informed Nelson about this in advance and obtained the screenplay early, making a conscious effort to memorise his lines.

When he arrived on location, Nelson asked whether he had learnt his dialogues. Suraj confidently assured him that he had memorised everything.

“Nelson looked down and said, ‘We've changed all those dialogues. Everything you have now is newly written,’” Suraj recalled.
The revelation left him stunned. Before he could recover, Rajinikanth walked towards them, and the cinematographer called out to ask whether he was ready for the shot.

Suraj compares the experience to being thrown into the middle of the ocean without knowing how to swim. He had to find his footing and get through the scene.
Meeting Rajinikanth, however, had been a dream in itself. Despite having acted in Tamil films, Suraj had never met the superstar in person. Before shooting their combination scenes, he decided to visit the sets in Coimbatore to introduce himself.

Amid the bustle of the large location, Rajinikanth was sitting in a corner, reading a book. When he noticed Suraj, he immediately stood up and personally introduced the actor to the members of the film unit. He also asked about Suraj's family and children.
Suraj answered his questions, but his mind was occupied by memories of the many iconic characters Rajinikanth had portrayed.

“I returned to Kerala fully charged. Rajini sir is a powerhouse. When you sit beside him, you feel as though you absorb some of that energy yourself,” he said. The most memorable moment, however, came during a night shoot in Chennai. The schedule ran from 6 pm to 6 am, and the actors were filming scenes in which they faced each other and exchanged dialogues.

Around 2 am, Rajinikanth finished his shots and returned to his room. Suraj's final portions were filmed afterwards, and he completed them in about 15 minutes. Then he heard applause coming from a distance. To his surprise, Rajinikanth was standing there, watching his performance instead of returning to his room. Suraj rushed towards him. “Sir, I have won a National Award. But this applause is the Oscar I have received,” he told the superstar.

Those around them joined in the applause. Suraj returned to his room that night with tears of happiness in his eyes. For the actor, the experience also reinforced his approach to choosing films. Regardless of the language, he looks for roles that offer scope for performance. While he particularly enjoys comedy in Malayalam cinema, Tamil films have given him opportunities to explore different kinds of characters. Suraj is now preparing for his next Malayalam project, a full-length comedy directed by Jagan Shaji Kailas.