In protest against the proceeds of Poppy sales on Armistice Day (11 November) being used for the benefit of the British ex-servicemen to the detriment of Sri Lankan ex-servicemen, one of the latter, Mr Aelian Perera, had started a rival sale of Suriya flowers on the same day, the proceeds of which were devoted to help needy Ceylonese ex-servicemen.
Suriya | Suriya (actor) |
He also played a major role in the Tamil blockbuster Payanam based on a hijack incident directed by Radha Mohan and as a gangster in the film Vaaranam Aayiram starring Suriya and Sameera Reddy with Gautham Menon.
Vasanth had earlier unsuccessfully tried to persuade Suriya to star in his previous film, Aasai, in 1995 but the actor's father insisted that Suriya was finally ready to act.
Also produced by Maniratnam, the film introduced actor Sivakumar's eldest son Suriya, who played a leading role alongside Vijay and Simran.
Vinoth Kishan made his debut as a child artiste in Bala's Nandha (2001) portraying the younger version of Suriya's character before appearing in similar roles in Samasthanam (2002) and then Sena (2003).