Suresh Gopi Wiki, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Suresh Gopi is an Indian actor, TV host, politician, and social activist who has acted in more than 250 films across Mollywood and Kollywood. He became famous for playing the roles of police and army officers in action films. He is a member of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2016.

Wiki/Biography

Suresh Gopi was born in Kollam, Kerala, India. As per one source, he was born on Wednesday, 25 June 1958 (age 65 years ; as of 2023), and as per another source, he was born on Thursday, 26 June 1958 (age 65 years ; as of 2023). ^[1]Instagram – Suresh His zodiac sign is Cancer. He completed his schooling at the Infant Jesus Anglo-Indian School and Fatima Mata National College in Kollam. He later pursued a Bachelor’s degree of Science in Zoology and completed Master’s degree in Arts in English Literature at Kerala University in 1982. He became interested in films while studying in college after watching Kamal Haasan films.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 11″

Weight (approx.): 75 kg

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Parents & Siblings

His father’s name was K. Gopinathan Pillai who was a film distributor, and his mother’s name was V. Gnanalekshmi Amma who died on 16 June 2012. He is the eldest of four brothers with three younger brothers named Subhash Gopi, Sunil Gopi, and Sanil Gopi; Sunil and Sanil are twins.

Wife & Children

He got married to Radhika Nair, granddaughter of actress Aranmula Ponnamma, on 8 February 1990.

The couple has four children including two sons named Gokul Suresh, who is an actor, and Madhav Suresh and two daughters named Bhagya Suresh and Bhavni Suresh. They also had a daughter named Lakshmi Suresh who died in a road accident at the age of one and a half years.

Religion

He follows Hinduism.

Signature

Address

Lekshmi, D-9, Temple Road, Sasthamangalam, Thiruvananthapuram – 695010

Career

Film

Initial Days

He debuted as a child artist in the 1965 film Odayil Ninnu. He later debuted after becoming an adult in the 1986 film Niramulla Ravulkal in which he played a small role. He went on to play supporting roles and acted as villians in more than 80 films in 4-5 years including acting in the 1986 film T. P. Balagopalan M. A. as a potential groom, in the 1987 film Irupatham Noottandu as a villian, in the 1988 film Oru CBI Diary Kurippu as Harry, in the 1988 film Manu Uncle as Sub Inspector Minnal Prathapan, in the 1989 film Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, and in the 1990 film Thoovalsparsham as Ananda Padmanabhan.

Becoming a Superstar

He gained superstar status in 1990s by playing the role of Army and Police officers in various films directed by Shaji Kailas and written by Renji Panicker. His first big break was the 1992 film Thalastaanam in which he played the role of Harikrishnan. He later played the role of Madhavan IPS in Ekalavyan (1993), Ravishankar in Mafia (1993), Nakulan in Manichitrathazhu (1993), City Police Commissioner Bharathchandran IPS in Commissioner (1994), and Sreedhar Prasad IPS/Mahesh Aravind (RAW officer) in Highway (1995).

Delivering hits one after another & break

During the mid 1990s, he started playing different roles, showing his acting versatility. He acted as a wildlife photographer named Anand aka Colonel in the 1996 film Rajaputran, Captain Jacob Stephen (Aanakattil Chackochi) in the 1997 film Lelam, a Theyyam artist named Kannan Perumalayanin the 1997 film Kaliyattam, Kannan in the 2000 film Thenkasipattanam, Dr Warrier in the 2005 film Makalkku, Vishwanathan in the 2010 film Janakan, Dr. Vijay Nambiar in the 2014 film Apothecary, and Adiraja Bhattadiri in the 2015 film My God; he took a break from acting after the 2015 film My God. In 2015, he also acted as Dr. Vasudevan in the Tamil film I.

Return to Films

He returned to acting after a fours years break in March 2019 by acting in the Tamil film Tamilarasan  in which he played the role of Dr. Muruganandam; the film was released in 2023. He later acted as Major Unnikrishnan, a retired army officer, in the 2020 film Varane Avashyamund, Circle Inspector Abraham Mathew ‘Mathan’ aka Paappan in the 2022 film Paappan, and Kaduvakkunnel Kuruvachan in the film Ottakkomban which was scheduled to be released in 2024.

Television

He became a TV host in 2012 when he started hosting the Malayalam version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? show named as Ningalkkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran which was aired on Asianet. He went on to host the show for four more seasons. In 2021, he started hosting the Malayalam version of Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader? titled AnchinoduInchodinchu which was broadcasted on Surya TV.

Politics

He became a Member of Rajyasabha (upper house of Indian Parliament) on 29 April 2016. He was nominated under the eminent persons category in accordance with the Indian Constitution’s Article 80. He chose Thiruvananthapuram district as his nodal district under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme. He officially joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 19 October 2016. In the 2019 Indian general elections, he contested from the Thrissur constituency; however, he came third. In the 2021 Assembly elections in Kerala, he contested from Thrissur seat and came third. In 2023, it was speculated that he would be included in the Union Cabinet of India. ^[2]Mathrubhumi

He contested the 2024 Lok Sabha seat from the Thrissur constituency in Kerala and won with 3,96,881 votes; this was BJP’s first Lok Sabha win in Kerala. Hours after taking oath as Minister of State in Modi 3.0 government on 9 June 2024, Gopi announced that he would not serve as Minister of State as he had commitments to the film industry. On 10 June 2024, he said that he would not quit the ministry in the Modi government.

Awards, Honours, Achievements

• Best Actor Award at National Film Awards for the film Kaliyattam in 1998

• Best Actor Award at Kerala State Film Awards for the film Kaliyattam in 1998

• Nominated for Best Actor Award at Filmfare Awards South for the film Apothecary in 2014

• Nominated for Best Actor in a Negative Role Award at Filmfare Awards South for the film I in 2016

Car Collection

He owns a Toyota Vellfire, Tata Safari, Caravan, and an Audi Q7.

Salary

Suresh Gopi’s salary for the financial year 2019-2020 was Rs. 3,24,29,750. ^[3]MyNeta It excludes the net worth of his wife and dependents (minors).

Assets & Properties

Movable Assets

• Cash: Rs. 40,000

• Bank Deposits: Rs. 73,42,947

• Motor Vehicles: Rs. 1,94,18,945

• Jewellery: Rs. 1,43,37,000

Immovable Assets

• Agricultural Land: Rs. 83,00,000

• Non-Agricultural Land: Rs. 1,61,47,918

• Residential Buildings: Rs. 3,34,94,100

Note: The given estimates of movable and immovable assets are according to the year 2021. ^[4]MyNeta It excludes the assets owned by his wife and dependents (minor).

Net Worth

Gopi’s net worth for the financial year 2020-2021 was estimated to be Rs. 11 Crores 38 Lakhs. ^[5]MyNeta It excludes the net worth of his wife and dependents (minors).

Facts/Trivia

• In September 2017, when the controversy regarding the entry to Sabarimala’s Sree Ayyappa temple was going on, he said in a public function that he wanted to be reborn as a Brahmin and become a head priest or lower priest at the Ayappa Temple, which enraged the protestors who wrote posts on social media condemning him. ^[6]The News Minute

• In March 2018, he said in a public statement that there was a caste discrimination in the Malayalam Film Industry when he entered the industry; however, when he and other artists won a few film awards, the situation changed. ^[7]Asianet News
  

  Suresh Gopi with Ajith (right) during the 1990s

• He is known for helping fellow artists and people irrespective of caste, politics, or religion. Noted Malayalam Director Alleppey Ashraf disclosed in May 2020 that Gopi helped the family of late Malayalam actor Ratheesh. He paid off their debt, took care of their education expense, and also gave gold souvenirs for Ratheesh’s daughter’s marriage. ^[8]Mathrubhumi

• He was a member of Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (A.M.M.A); however, when the association fined him Rs 2 Lakhs for going to a program and did not fine other artists who did the same actions, he resigned from association. ^[9]Mathrubhumi

• He has donated money to many associations working in the field of entertainment and social causes.
  

  A donation made by Suresh Gopi

• He is a cricket lover and loves to watch cricket matches.
  

  Suresh Gopi (left) with Saurav Ganguly (centre)