NEW DELHI, JUNE 10 :  Actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, who made history by securing the BJP its first-ever Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, has won many admirers for his acting prowess in Malayalam films – whether as police officer, NSG commando, even villain. Now as part of the Modi 3.0 government, Suresh Gopi dons the role of real life Minister.

With his victory in the Thrissur seat, Gopi helped the BJP open its Lok Sabha account in Kerala, which has been dominated by the Left and Congress for decades. Gopi, 65, defeated CPI’s V.S. Sunil Kumar by a margin of 74,686 votes to win the Thrissur seat. He received a total of 4,12,338 votes.

With 250 films under his belt, Gopi was nominated as Rajya Sabha member in April 2016 by the President under the category of eminent personalities. He joined the BJP in October 2016.

In 2019, he contested in the Parliament election as a candidate of the BJP from Thrissur constituency.
He lost to Congress candidate T.N. Prathapan, securing third position behind the Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Rajaji Mathew Thomas.

Notably, he managed to receive 293,822 votes, which was more than double the votes received by the candidate of BJP in the previous election.

In 2021, he again contested as a BJP candidate from Thrissur Assembly seat. However, he lost to P.Balachandran of CPI, coming third after INC candidate Padmaja Venugopal, securing a total of 40,457 votes.
Surprisingly, during his college days, Suresh Gopi was an active member of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM).

Later in his life, he developed an admiration for former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the Congress.
In the 2006 Kerala Legislative Assembly election, he campaigned for both the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front candidates. He campaigned for LDF candidate V.S. Achuthanandan in Malampuzha constituency and UDF candidate M. P. Gangadharan in Ponnani constituency.

Suresh Gopi made his acting debut as a child in the 1965 film ‘Odayil Ninnu’, and as an adult in 1986.
In 1998, he won the National Film Award for Best Actor and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in ‘Kaliyattam’.

Suresh Gopi was born on 26 June 1958 in Alapuzha, to K. Gopinathan Pillai, a film distributor, and V. Gnanalekshmi Amma, as their eldest son.

In his early age, Suresh Gopi’s family moved to his father’s house in Kollam and he was brought up in Kollam. He has three younger brothers—Subhash Gopi and the twins Sunil Gopi and Sanil Gopi.

Suresh Gopi was educated at the Infant Jesus Anglo-Indian School in Kollam. He then joined the Fatima Mata National College in Kollam for his higher studies. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology and Master of Arts degree in English literature.

He was noted for his villain role in ‘Irupatham Noottandu’ (1987). It was the highest grossing Malayalam movie of that time. Gopi’s comic role as sub-inspector Minnal Prathapan in ‘Manu Uncle’ (1988) has over the years attained a cult status.

His portrayal of Dr. Narendran in Padmarajan’s 1990 film ‘Innale’ was critically acclaimed and is considered by fans and critics to be one of the best performances of his career.
He also gained appraisal for his portrayal of Aromal Chekavar in the 1989 drama ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha’. He played another cameo comic role as Christopher Luke, a professional killer in ‘Nagarangalil Chennu Raparkam’ (1989).

His other notable films during the late 1980s include ‘Bhoomiyile Rajakkanmar’, ‘New Delhi’ (1987), ‘Moonnam Mura’, 1921 (1988), ‘Varnam’, ‘Douthyam’, ‘Nair Saab’ (1989). His notable films during the early 1990s include ‘In Harihar Nagar’ and ‘Thoovalsparsham’

After acting in more than 80 movies, Suresh Gopi finally got a breakthrough by playing the lead role in Shaji Kailas’s ‘Thalastaanam’ (1992), which was written by Renji Panicker. Suresh established himself as a superstar star in Malayalam cinema through ‘Ekalavyan’ (1993). This crime thriller was also written by Renji Panicker and directed by Shaji Kailas.

In 1993 itself, he played the lead role in ‘Mafia’, another Shaji-Renji crime thriller which was very successful at box office. The same year, he played the role of Nakulan alongside Mohanlal and Shobhana in Fazil’s psychological thriller ‘Manichitrathazhu’, which is considered one of the best Malayalam movies ever made.

He played the role of a NSG commando in ‘Kashmeeram’ (1994), which was a commercial success. His 1994 film ‘Commissioner’ (1994) was a major success, including in neighbouring Telugu-speaking state.

Suresh Gopi’s high budget film ‘Yuvathurki’ (1996) failed to create expected results at box office. The same year, he appeared in a different avatar by playing the role of a wildlife photographer in ‘Rajaputran’. It became one of the highest grossing Malayalam movies in 1996.

One of his popular and career best character Anakkattil Chackochi came out through ‘Lelam’ in 1997. Scripted by Renji Panicker and directed by Joshiy, it was one of the highest-grossing movies of the year.

The role of Kannan Perumalayan in Jayaraj’s ‘Kaliyattam’ (1997) won him the National Film Award for Best Actor and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor.

Suresh Gopi’s action thriller film ‘Pathram’ (1999) directed by Joshiy was the highest grossing Malayalam movie in 1999. The film ran for over 275 days in theatres.

Suresh Gopi played the lead role in Rajasenan’s horror film ‘Meghasandesham’ (2001). In 2005, he did the lead role in Renji Panicker’s ‘Bharathchandran I.P.S’, a sequel to the 1994 film ‘Commissioner’. The film was a major hit at the box office.

On February 8, 1990, Suresh married Radhika Nair, the granddaughter of actress Aranmula Ponnamma. They have five children—Lakshmi Suresh, Gokul Suresh, Bhagya Suresh, Bhavni Suresh, and Madhav Suresh.

Lakshmi died in a car accident while she was one-and-a-half years old. Gokul Suresh is a young actor in Malayalam cinema. Suresh resides with family in Sasthamangalam, Thiruvananthapuram.(UNI)