National Award winning actor Suresh Gopi, who has become a ‘police icon’ in Mollywood with his portrayal of Police Commissioner Bharath Chandran IPS in Commissioner and Ekalavyan which elevated him to super stardom, celebrates his birthday on June 25.

Born in 1959 in Kollam, Suresh Gopi debuted in films as a child artist in Odeyil Ninnum (1965), starring Sathyan in the lead role along with Prem Nazir. Later, he returned to acting during the mid-80s with T.P. Balagopalan M.A. (1986), where he played a prospective groom in a small scene. He was noted for his acting prowess and went on to play supporting and villain roles.

As a supporting and villain actor, Suresh Gopi was noticed in some interesting roles such as Balan in Nandi Veendum Varika (1986), Vinod in January Oru Orma (1987), Shekaran Kutty in Irupatham Noottandu (1987), Suresh in New Delhi (1987), Harry in Oru CBI Diary Kurippu (1988), Unni in Nineteen Twenty One (1988) and Aromal Chekavar in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989). He even played comic roles in Manu Uncle (1988) and Innale (1989). Another interesting role was of Christopher Luke in Nagarangalil Chennu Raparkam (1990). This film helped him get noticed as a serious police officer.

The films that made Suresh Gopi a bankable lead actor were Thalastanam (1992), Ekalavyan (1993) and Commissioner (1994). All these were police dramas and had almost similar themes. Suresh Gopi became immensely popular with his role as Bharathchandran IPS in Commissioner and his English dialogues in the film became quite popular with the masses. During the early to mid 90s, he also played characters of substance in Paithrukam (1993), Manichithrathazhu (1993), Samooham (1993) and Sindoora Rekha (1995).

In 1997, Suresh Gopi won the National Film Award and Kerala State Film Award for the Best Actor for playing Kannan Perumalayan in Jayaraj’s Kaliyattam (1997), an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello. This turning point in his career proved that Suresh Gopi was more than just another mainstream actor. Suresh Gopi is married to Radhika and they have four children: Gokul, Bhagya, Bhaavni and Madhav.